


I AM: ILL

by lossit_bay



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: A plot happens, All ships are just hinted at, Angst, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Sickfic, then back to fluff, they just all love and care for each other ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-09-16 00:55:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 22,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16943958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lossit_bay/pseuds/lossit_bay
Summary: When you have nine boys living together with as little regard for personal space as Stray Kids in flu season it's nine or none.It started with Jisung muffling a cough into his shoulder during a producing session. The cough never really went away but Jisung seemed to be healthy apart from that so Chan didn’t worry too much about it and just kept handing the young rapper bottles of water.Then Hyunjin sneezed three times in rapid succession at practice and they had to start the song again. He’d bumped heads with Woojin in the process but neither was injured so it was back to positions, they didn’t have time to waste.When Changbin rolled out of bed one morning and threw up all over the floor before he’d even really got upright Chan started to see a pattern.





	1. Chapter 1

It started with Jisung muffling a cough into his shoulder during a producing session. The cough never really went away but Jisung seemed to be healthy apart from that so Chan didn’t worry too much about it and just kept handing the young rapper bottles of water.

Then Hyunjin sneezed three times in rapid succession at practice and they had to start the song again. He’d bumped heads with Woojin in the process but neither was injured so it was back to positions, they didn’t have time to waste.

When Changbin rolled out of bed one morning and threw up all over the floor before he’d even really got upright Chan started to see a pattern. After leaving Woojin comforting poor Changbin as he hugged the toilet bowl, Chan cleaned up the sick in their room and called a group meeting in the living room.

Most of the boys were eating their breakfast as they were due leave for a schedule in an hour. Hyunjin was doozing on Jeongin’s shoulder and the maknae scowled to Chan about it as the leader walked in. He didn’t push the older boy off though. Chan noticed Jisung was pouting as Minho tried to convince him to eat more, turning his head away. Jisung’s eyes were duller than normal and Chan suspected it wasn’t just due to the early start.

“Ok, who’s ill?” Chan asked, looking each member in the eyes and daring them to lie to him.  
“I am,” Jisung said without the need for further threats, raising his hand tiredly. It must have been pretty bad for him to admit that easily. Minho pulled Jisung closer, scrutinising his face. Jisung pushed him away.  
“No, Hyung, you’ll get sick too.”  
“Why didn’t you tell me,” Minho said, offended, placing his palm on Jisung’s forehead. “Chan-hyung I think he has a fever.” Minho announced worriedly.  
Chan sighed, it’s not the first time Changbin and Jisung had been sick together. Spending so much time together they inevitably passed illness between them and their immune systems succumbed to the same things where Chan normally just felt lousy for a few days. Changbin and Jisung he could handle. The whole team however, would be a whole other level and Chan had a horrible feeling he was about to face it.

“Anyone else?” Chan asked. Felix just looked confused so he was probably fine for now despite having shared a bed with Changbin a few nights ago. Jeongin looked slightly scared at the thought of his unstoppable Hyungs being laid low but hadn’t connected the dots like Seungmin had.  
“Jinnie, you’re ill aren’t you?” The red-haired boy asked, stroking the older boy’s hair where he was still curled into the maknae.  
“No,” Hyunjin grumbled unconvincingly into Jeongin’s shirt.  
“Jinnie,” Seungmin pressed.  
“Yeah, ok I feel terrible,” Hyunjin admitted, sitting up. He looked like he had barely slept, dark smudges under his eyes, face puffy. “I can still work though.”“Not happening,” Chan said, pushing a bowl of porridge towards him. “Try and eat something then back to bed.”

  
“What’s the damage?” Woojin asked on his way to the kitchen, stealing a bite of meat off Chan’s plate.  
“Damage?” Felix echoed as Jeongin asked  
“Who’s not working?"

“Three out of nine,” Chan called to Woojin.  
“Jisung, Hyunjin and Changbin are definitely staying home,” he told Jeongin. “I can stay and look after them and you lot can go practice.”  
Woojin reappeared with a pink mixing bowl and headed back down the corridor. He came back supporting a very pale Changbin who was clutching the bowl for deal life. Changbin was deposited on the couch with his bowl and cartoons and Woojin joined them at the table, piling his plate.

“You don’t look too good, Binnie-hyung,” Seungmin called. Changbin blinked at him.  
“Don’t taunt him, Minnie, or he’ll throw up on you. “Woojin warned.  
“I’m sorr-” Changbin croaked from the couch.  
“It’s ok, baby Binnie,” Woojin cut him off. “Not your fault.”  
“More for the laundry?” Chan asked Woojin quietly as they finished eating.  
“My pyjamas and Changbin’s,” Woojin replied. “What else did he throw up on?”  
“Gyu and his jeans from yesterday that were still lying on the floor.” Chan said. They turned to looked at the boy on the couch. Felix had brought him a glass of water and was tucking the older boy into a blanket.  
“Binnie’s not going to throw up over the couch and Fe is he?” Chan asked.  
“If there is anything left in his tiny body for him to throw up I’ll be amazed,” Woojin said. “Though Lix will definitely get sick too if he keeps hugging him like that.” He frowned at the young couple but didn't move to separate them. “How are you feeling Channie?” he asked the boy next to him, “still good?”  
“I’m fine,” Chan said around a mouthful of food. “If you go to practice I’ll stay here and work on some tracks while I look after the invalids and you can help when you get home. I’ll phone the Manager now.” Chan moved to get up but was stopped by Woojin’s strong hand on his shoulder.  
“Finish first,” the older boy said, giving him a glass of juice. Chan downed the drink, gulping his bread and hurried off.

When Chan returned from his call Minho had dragged Jisung back to bed and Seungmin was clearing the table. Hyunjin had eaten half his porridge and had promptly passed out on the table with Jeongin’s right arm held hostage. Chan helped lift the sleeping boy onto Woojin’s back and freed their youngest, at least temporarily. Hyunjin was clingy at the best of times and Chan had a feeling he’d want to cuddle the second he was conscious again.  
“How are you doing, Innie?” Chan asked, pushing the boy’s thick hair out of his eyes to better inspect him. Jeongin pushed his arm away.  
“I’m fine Hyung, I promise.”  
“You’ll tell me if you start to feel sick?” Chan pressed. He really hoped Jeongin didn’t get ill. He really hoped nobody else got ill but he knew from living in the dorms that’s not how life worked.  
“I will, Hyung. Let me go get ready.”

By the time the healthy members returned from practice Jisung had lost his voice and Changbin had thrown up twice more. They were curled up in a pity pile of blankets on the couch writing lyrics about how evil the flu was. Chan wasn’t allowed to join them because he didn’t feel their pain. Chan couldn’t even if he wanted to because Hyunjin had draped himself over Chan after he woke from his 5 hour nap and demanded to be sung to. Chan had compromised and was making a soft lullaby track on his laptop with Hyunjin’s approval.

The members were barely inside the door and Hyunjin had sat up and was making whining grabby hands at them. Jeongin stuck out his tongue at him and called dibs on first shower as he ran off. Hyunjin pouted and turned his attack on Seungmin.  
“5 minutes, Jinnie,” the singer said, smiling softly and followed the youngest to get changed. Hyunjin flopped back down onto Chan, pressing his face into the leader’s neck.

Chan updated Woojin and Minho on his day as Felix went to read the Pity Pile’s lyrics. Felix cooed and awwed as he flipped through the notebook they were filling and kissed each boy on the crown of their head. At this rate 3RACHA will have an I AM: ILL album ready by the time they were all healthy again.

Minho made them all samgetang for dinner with fresh ingredients he had gone and bought with Jeongin. They had also stocked the medicine cabinet and fridge with enough to feed 9 ill boy for a few days.  
“It’s really good, Minho-hyung,” Changbin croaked after one mouthful.  
Minho smiled gently at him. “Try and have some more, Binnie. You need the strength.” Changbin shook his head slowly. His damp hair was sticking to his forehead and he still pale. “I’ll just throw up again.” he said, resigned. Felix rubbed circles into his back.  
“Try, Binnie,” Chan encouraged him. “You’ve been ok for a few hours.”  
“Because I’ve not eaten anything in a few hours,” Changbin retorted, pushing his bowl towards Jeongin. Woojin intercepted, using seniority to keep the contaminated broth from the youngest.

Hyunjin and Jisung had at least eaten theirs with little fuss. It was smaller portions than normal but they hadn’t been dancing today so Chan allowed it. Jisung’s temperature, however, soared with the addition of hot broth.  
“Chan, I made a load of soup. It’s on the stove. Red pot is spicy,” Minho told him.  
Chan frowned. “Why are you telling me now?” he asked. He had been in the middle of asking Seungmin about the chorus of their new song.  
“I’m hugging Jisung,” Minho replied, eyes sharp with determination that seemed displaced. Minho and Jisung were always hugging, it wasn’t something Minho needed to announce or prepare for...unless.  
“Lee Minho, don’t you-” Chan was too slow. Minho had already kissed Jisung’s cheek and was carrying the fevered boy back to bed. “Fuck,” Chan sighed.  
“At least he cooked first,” Felix said, “and he might not get ill.”  
Changbin made a noise of sudden panic and Seungmin launched an empty bowl at him just in time.  
“Gross,” Jeongin said, sliding his chair away.  
Changbin groaned and closed his eyes, tears slipping down his cheeks. “I didn’t even eat anything.”  
“I know baby,” Chan comforted. “I’ll see if there’s any medicine you can take on an empty stomach.” As he left for the kitchen he heard Woojin taking over the parenting role.  
“Lix you can’t kiss him. No, not even on his hair. If you get sick too then there’s less people who can look after Binnie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be a one-shot. It kind of still is but it keeps growing so I'm going to post the start in the hope somebody bugs me to finish it. This chapter is about a quarter of what I have written. Maybe I'm nearly done? I don't know I'm not in charge of this story I'm just writing it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of- did you all see the skidlets crushing it at MAMA? I'm so proud of them!
> 
> Secondly- wow that was so many hits and kudos and comments in such as short amount of time. Thank you STAY!  
> I may or may not have been really inspired and was writing more of this story at work.. Who do you think will get sick next? Vote now in the comments

The next morning Chan looked into the millenium room to find Hyunjin in Seungmin’s bed and Minho sharing the top bunk with Jisung. Seungmin was lying awake on his back with Hyunjin wrapping all his long limbs around him. He smiled sheepishly as Chan caught his eye.  
“I thought you knew better than to cuddle someone sick, Minnie.”  
“He was sad,” Seungmin replied. No doubt Hyunjin had pouted at him when Seungmin had gone to bed and the younger boy threw his cleanliness rules out the window. At least Seungmin didn’t seem sick yet.  
Minho however, was grinning from the top bunk. “Worth it,” he told Chan, his voice deep and raspy.  
“You’re on Changbin duty today,” Chan told him.  
“But I’m ill too,” Minho protested.  
“That’s a shame,” Chan said without feeling.

Luckily for Minho, Changbin only threw up once on the second day. Hyunjin took advantage of that too by curling up in Changbin’s lap and falling asleep with his arms wrapped loosely around the older boy’s waist. It was a risky move in Chan’s opinion but at least it left him free to work on his tracks and periodically supply everyone with food, drink and medicine. Jisung and Minho were entertaining themselves in their feverish delirium; playing video games, making faces at each, telling stories in hoarse whispers. They were, at least until Jisung made Minho laugh too hard and Minho kicked him off the couch. Chan separated them after that, sending them to lie down in their own beds.

Chan nearly cried when he saw Woojin walking in the door that night. Staying in cooped up for two days was too much for him. “Woojinnie-ah, you’re in charge!” he called and rushed out the door to meander his way to the local convenience store. An hour later Chan returned laden with medicine and ramen.  
“Had to get out?” Woojin asked, stirring soup on the hob as Chan dumped his purchases on the counter.  
“Yeah,” Chan said, breathless. “I was going a little crazy.”  
Woojin hummed in response. “Minnie was being whiney at practice today. I think he’s probably next to fall ill.”  
Chan sighed and hugged Woojin from behind, relishing in the solid warmth of his friend. “Yeah, he let Jinnie sleep with him last night.”  
“What an idiot,” Woojin said, shuffling them both back so he could start dishing the soup into bowls. “It’ll just be you, me and Innie before long.”

***

Whenever Seungmin was in a bad mood he went to Hyunjin because Hyunjin would always listen to him moan and hug him afterwards. So when Seungmin came home from practice with a headache, feeling like the world had wronged him he went to Hyunjin. Hyunjin didn’t quite listen this time, still drowsy from his day-long nap, but he unlatched from Changbin to squeeze Seungmin tight and kissed his headache better. Then he sneezed in his face.  
“Really, Jinnie,” Chan sighed from the doorway. “If Minnie wasn’t sick before he definitely will be now.”  
Hyunjin pouted and rubbed his nose. “Sorry Minnie,” he whispered. He looked like he was about to cry. Chan saw Seungmin’s initial anger fade to resignation.  
“You didn’t mean it, Jinnie.” Seungmin said, patting the older boy’s arm as he got up to wash his face.  
“5 out of 9?” Woojin asked, having followed Chan out of the kitchen with the soup.  
“5 out of 9,” Chan confirmed. “I’m going to be really outnumbered tomorrow.”  
Woojin handed him two bowls and offered a winning smile. “Well, 5 out of 9 is over 50%. I think Felix, Jeongin and I won’t hold the team back too much if we stay home and help you.”  
“Woojinnie, you’re an angel,” Chan said and Woojin’s smile shone brighter.  
“Don’t you forget it.”

***

When Chan woke up the next morning it felt like someone was smothering him and had somehow slid tiny cubes of ice inside his ribcage. Great. 6 out of 9. Chan considered rolling over and trying to sleep at least some of the illness off but he was a leader now, he had other people relying on him. Also he needed another blanket to fight the ice cubes. Taking the duvet with him, Chan slid off the mattress in search of warmth.

It was light outside, but that kind of weak, quiet light of very early in the morning. Normally at least Seungmin would be up by now but the dorm was quiet. Chan peeked into the Millenium room to find Seungmin fast asleep, sprawled on his back with the duvet kicked off. His cheeks were flushed and Chan could hear his laboured breathing from the door.

“Our puppy is definitely sick,” Chan whispered to himself and crossed the room to pull Seungmin’s duvet back over him and pressed a kiss to his forehead. His skin was hot despite the missing duvet and Seungmin wrinkled his nose at the pressure and turned away, kicking the duvet back off. Chan returned it , tucking the younger boy in more firmly this time. The movement made him dizzy but he ignored the nausea, wrapping his duvet tighter to fight the weak shivers that had started without him noticing.

Hyunjin was the only other boy in the room. He slept like the dead at the best of times and after sleeping through so much of the previous days Chan half expected him to have run out of sleep by now. However, Hyunjin was persevering and was on a personal record of 18 hours out of 24. Chan left him to it.

The other room was crowded and muggy from the lack of oxygen.  
“Hyung?” Jeongin called softly as Chan shuffled in.  
“Morning, Innie.” Chan replied. A glance round the room confirmed his suspicions. Jisung and Minho had moved to this room last night, still tightly cuddled together and Changbin had sought out Felix.  
“You don’t sound too good Hyung,” Jeongin said, leaning over the edge of the bunk to peer at him in the darkness.  
“I don’t feel too good either, Innie,” Chan admitted. Happy that all his members were safe in bed Chan gave in to the dizziness and sunk to the floor. The duvet gave him a soft landing and the room started spinning slower. Gently he tilted to the side, using gravity to help pull him onto the solid safety of the floor.  
“Hyung?” Jeongin called out worriedly. The bed creaked in protest as the boy leaned further over the bannister.  
“I’m fine, Innie.” Chan mumbled into his duvet, “just going to lie here for a bit. Don’t fall.” Objectly Chan knew he should have put more confidence into those words to reassure the maknae but he was just so tired. And cold. But mostly tired. As the world started to fade out again Chan heard a muffled thump to his left and a deep voice. It was a nice voice, it sounded like home.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys I missed an important interaction off the end of this chapter on the upload last night. If you read it then skip to the last two paragraphs.

Chan pulled back into consciousness by someone shaking his shoulders. That person was horrible. He opened his eyes and struggled to focus. Oh, that person was Woojin, maybe not horrible then.  
“What are you doing on the floor, Channie?” Woojin asked, smiling like he knew a secret.

“I was cold,” Chan offered. As he said it he remembered that’s why he left bed in the first place and the ice cubes in his rib cage were suddenly overbearing.  
“You don’t feel cold,” Woojin said, pushing Chan’s curly hair from his eyes. That was clearly a lie, Chan knew what cold felt like. “Very sweaty though,” Woojin continued. “Have you been running a marathon in your sleep?”  
Chan hummed non committedly as Woojin’s hand soothed a headache he hadn’t even noticed was there. “I walked here from my room, that’s pretty far,” he said.  
Jeongin scoffed from his bed. “You’re funny when you’re ill, Channie-hyung.” he said.  
“Can you make it to my bed, Channie?” Woojin asked. “It’s still warm and you can have my duvet too.”  
That sounded much better than the floor. Surely two duvets and Woojin’s warmth would melt the ice cubes. His feet could even be out of the cold. But he would have to be upright to get there and Chan wasn’t sure that was something he could commit to. “Lift me,” he said, pouting.  
“Lift you?,” Woojin laughed. “I’m not that strong, Chan. You’re all muscle.”  
“You are that strong,” Chan mumbled and buried himself deeper into the duvet. Maybe if Woojin didn’t lift him he could teleport.  
“Go on, Woojin-ah-Hyung, lift him,” a new voice said, laced with mocking. _Minho _, Chan’s brain supplied far too slowly. More voices were joining in now and Chan stopped trying to pay attention.__

 

After a while that could have been a few seconds or several days Chan felt strong arms wrapping around his blanket cocoon. His eyes were still shut but Chan was pretty sure he was now sliding along the floor not up. No sooner had that thought formed, the movement changed and he was definitely going up now. Going up was horrible, he should have stayed on the floor. Going up was followed by going down which was also horrible but ended in soft and warm and smelled like Woojin.  
“Thank you,” Chan mumbled, loosening his cocoon and burying to warm patch Woojin had left. A second duvet was laid over him and Chan latched on, bring it up to his chin. The ice cubes were finally melting and Chan opened his eyes again, feeling ever so slightly closer to alive.  
Woojin was smiling down at him. Not his full-blown smile but the soft one where his eyes stared right into Chan’s soul.  
“Is that better?” Woojin asked. Chan nodded. “Changbin says you normally sweat out the flu so it looks like you’ve got a rough day ahead of you.” Woojin added and stroked Chan’s hair back again despite having just mentioned how sweaty he was. It was bliss and Chan grabbed Woojin’s other hand to hold him there. The older boy was in an awkward half-crouch but he didn’t complain, just shifted to sit by the headboard and continued to stroke the headache away.

“How is everyone?” Chan asked after a few minutes, doing his best to raise his voice.  
“I want breakfast,” Changbin called down from Felix’s bed above him. He was clearly feeling better then since he had refused anything but rice the day before.  
“Only porridge, Binnie,” Woojin said warningly. “Don’t shock your stomach.”  
“It’s ok, Binnie. I’ll have porridge too,” Felix said, the brightness in his voice killing any argument Changbin had before he made it. The bed creaked as they moved and Chan guessed Felix had kissed Changbin by the weak protests from the other side of the room.  
“How are you not ill yet, Hyung.” Jeongin said from the opposite bunk.  
“The Power of Love,” Felix said sagely.  
Minho gagged.

“Why’s Chan-Hyung sick then,” Jeongin said as they all started climbing out of bed.  
“Chronic lack of sleep,” Felix replied, jumping down from his bed and making Chan and Minho groan from the thud.  
“Wow, Lix, kick me while I’m down,” Chan said, hating how weak his voice sounded.  
“Sorry, Hyung,” the bright boy said, reaching down to hug Chan gently. “Try and get more sleep while you’re in bed. We’ve got you, yeah?”  
Chan’s heart swelled. Where did he find such wonderful people. “I love you, Lixie,” he said.  
“I love you too, Hyung.” Felix said and kissed his nose.  
“Omg, he’s not fucking dying,” Minho called out.  
“I’m fucking dying,” Jisung said. His voice pitch was rivalling Felix’s and rasping.  
“Woah,” Changbin said, stopping on his way out the door. “Do that again.”  
Jisung opened his mouth and was cut off by a fit of coughing that shook his whole body. Minho sat up and rubbed circles into his back, whispering encouragement. When the fit subsided Jisung gasped for breath then locked eyes with Changbin and said “Fuck,” proudly.  
“We need to record that,” Changbin said and Jisung rushed to follow him to the producing room.  
Before Chan or Woojin had the chance to go into parent mode Minho beat them to it.  
“Nobody is doing any music until after breakfast. Actual breakfast, with food.” Minho stared the young rappers down, the effect only slightly ruined by a sneeze.

Chan managed to migrate to the couch later that morning after some medicine Jeongin gave him kicked in. Hyunjin had woken from his deep sleep and was mostly conscious next to him. Chan couldn’t tell if he was still waking up or was falling back to sleep. Chances are it was both.

On Hyunjin’s other side was Seungmin. Felix and Minho had a bet going on whether Chan or Seungmin would have the higher temperature today. Chan was currently winning but not by much. He also had the added bonus of sweating and shivering that Seungmin had somehow missed. Seungmin was just very very hot, his puffy, flushed face the only visible sign on illness. His eyes were closed, head resting on Hyunjin’s chest and he quietly whined to whoever would listen about his fever and his migraine.

Changbin and Jisung had recorded some of their lyrics earlier but Jisung had quickly lost his voice again so they had formed Pity Pile 2.0 with Minho and Felix on the floor. As far as Chan could tell I AM: ILL was getting choreo too. Said choreo had a lot of lying down. Chan was on board with that.  
“Temperature time, Channie,” Woojin said, appearing from the kitchen. Chan dutifully stuck out his tongue for the thermometer and Woojin replaced the damp cloth on his forehead. Chan stole his hand. “Pats again?” Woojin asked, amused. “I should have guessed you’d be clingy when ill.” Woojin removed the thermometer and whistled. “Any guesses?,” he asked the floor.

“39.5” Minho called.  
“38.9” said Changbin.  
“40” Felix guessed.  
Jisung held up a sign that said 37 in a giant heart. Chan appreciated the enthusiasm.

“39.3,” Woojin announced, “getting hotter, Channie.”  
“Yeah, you know I am,” Chan replied, winking. Then frowned as Woojin took his hand off his hair.  
Woojin shook his head fondly. “You can get more pats once I’ve finished.”  
Hyunjin’s temperature was 37.6, barely a fever but his body seemed to be fighting the illness in other ways. Seungmin managed an impressive 38.9 with the thermometer in his armpit since having the cold metal in his mouth had sent pain shooting behind his eyes. Woojin sent him to go lie down in the dark for a while and Seungmin had taken Hyunjin with him.  
_That’s really cute _, Jisung wrote and held up for everyone to see.__

 

Jeongin was a terrible nurse. He bullied everyone into eating and taking medicine. It was a very effective method as Changbin declared himself well again an hour after lunch and Jisung could speak again by late afternoon but Chan preferred a gentle approach. He couldn’t even see Jeongin’s giant metal smile because the boy was wearing a face mask the whole time. Jeongin had also taken away his laptop so he couldn’t work. Instead Chan was half-heartedly watching cartoons while Woojin stroked his hair.

“You’ll be next, Jinnie.” Chan said.  
“Huh?”  
“To get ill,” Chan clarified, “you’ll be next since you’ve looked after me all day.  
“That’s ok,” Woojin said. “Jeongin’s really good and Changbin’s better now.”  
“Jeongin’s mean,” Chan said.  
Woojin laughed. “Because he wouldnt let you work? Channie, you wouldn’t get anything good done anyway. I don’t think you realise but you’re not even speaking Korean all the time.”  
“This is definitely Korean,”Chan replied. He was pretty sure. Yes, it tasted like Korean.  
Woojin laughed. “ _Tastes like Korean _” he echoed “Are you hungry, Chris?”__  
“I don’t know,” Chan pouted. “I don’t even know if I’m hot or cold.”  
“Hot,” Woojin told him, “really, really hot.”  
Before Chan could start flirting again, Jeongin slid into the living room looking slightly panicked. “Seungminnie-hyung threw up and now he’s crying. Changbin-hyung said to get the pink bowl.”  
“I’ll do it, Innie.” Woojin said, pressing a kiss into Chan’s hair and standing up. “You sit with Channie and make sure he doesn’t try and work.

***

Chan had thought that things would get easier once members started to get better. He was wrong. By that evening Changbin, Minho and Hyunjin were all mostly recovered and they were getting restless. Jisung’s fever had also broken the previous night and though he still had a hacking cough and wheezed if he moved too much, his eyes were brighter and he was eager to join in the mischief. Felix was only enabling them.

It had started with fortnite and lots of yelling but with the whole dance line involved it quickly turned into a much more dangerous version of the I AM: ILL choreography.  
“Changbin only stopped being sick yesterday, do NOT throw him,” Woojin called as he entered the room. “No, put Felix down. Nobody is being thrown anywhere. Please,” he added softly.  
“Sorry, Hyung,” the group chorused, mollified for the time being.  
“How’s Minnie,” Hyunjin asked.  
“Sleeping,” Woojin replied, ushering them to the the couch. “Try to be quiet for a bit and you can go to practice tomorrow.”  
The boys flopped down around Chan, personal space a forgotten concept. Jisung kissed Chan’s cheek and wormed his way into the blanket next to him.  
“You look pretty bad, Hyung,” he said.  
“You sound pretty bad, Sungie,” Chan replied.  
“Touche,” Jisung cuddled closer. “I’ve got some really cool samples for the next album though.”  
“We’re not a death metal group, Sungie.”  
“A 3RACHA single then.”  
“Ok, Sungie. When I get my laptop back we can work on it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeongin's safe for now but it's still nine or none, his time will come. Felix might have a superhuman aussie immune system.. or maybe it is the power of love


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's more! I'm trying to finish this fic before Christmas and post it all before New Year. Considering I'm spending New Year on a tiny remote island without even cars I don't think I'll be able to post there.. 
> 
> I'll be on a train for over 6 hours on Christmas Eve anyway so I have plenty time to finish this provided the plot stops growing. 
> 
> It gets a little bit too serious at the end of this chapter but I promise the next one has a healthy dose of crack and the missing members make a reappearance.

The next day, Chan felt mildly less like death and decided to risk a shower after the dance line, Jeongin and Changbin had cleared out for practice. The shivers came back in full force and by the time he was washed he was exhausted and sat on the floor of the bathroom shaking in a towel. Woojin came at his call and helped him into clean pyjamas and towel-dried his hair. Chan hated being this weak when he was supposed to be the leader but it was nice to be looked after.

Jisung had Chan’s laptop which was wholly unfair. Yes, Chan’s eyes hurt when he tried to look at the screen so he couldn’t use it right now but that wasn’t the point. The point was that Jisung was allowed to work on the album and Chan didn’t want him messing with the mix without him there. Even if Jisung was one of the most talented producers Korea had ever seen, it was Chan’s track and he wanted to see.

“Don’t start, Channie,” Woojin said as Chan opened his mouth to complain. Woojin was giving him a piggyback ride from the bathroom to his bed and Jisung was seated, unapologetically, at _his_ desk. On _his_ laptop.  
“Hi, Hyung,” Jisung said, spinning around on _his_ chair. “I’m not touching the album I promise. Listen to what I did to this sample from yesterday though.” A truly demonic sound came out of the speakers that might have originally been Jisung saying ‘fuck’.  
Chan whined softly and buried his face into Woojin’s neck. Fuck indeed, the sound was like a knife through his temple.

“Sungie, how about you take the laptop to ty the living room. Channie’s really not feeling good today.” Woojin suggested.  
Jisung’s smile faded quickly to concern. “Sure. Channie-hyung do you want me to make you soup?” Jisung asked quietly, standing and pushing Chan’s damp curls off his forehead, coaxing him out of Woojin’s shoulder. Woojin stood silently holding Chan’s weight like it was nothing as the younger boys interacted.  
“No thank you, Jisungie,” Chan said.  
“Do you want to sleep?” Jisung asked. Chan hummed, turning his head to get more pets from Jisung.  
“That’s a silly question, Sungie,” Woojin said. “Channie never wants to sleep. He just passes out for long stretches occasionally.” Chan hit Woojin’s arm weakly. “Can you help me get him down on the bed, let’s see if we can get him to pass out for a bit.” Woojin asked Jisung.

Chan did pass out for a bit. Then he moved to the couch, ate and passed out some more. He had got tired halfway through one bowl of soup which was a sure sign he was unwell as Chan’s average soup intake was 5 bowls, with bread. When he regained consciousness again he was confused to find his head in Felix’s lap.  
“Whyyuhere? Whatimesit?” Chan mumbled sitting up and then groaning and lying back down. Felix started petting his head. Did Woojin teach him that?  
“It’s 5pm. We came home early because Sungie sent Binnie-hyung his track and Binnie-hyung wanted to go work on it and then Minho-Hyung was worried that Sung was going to make himself ill again by working and Jinnie wanted to see Minnie because Minnie wasn’t replying to his texts and Innie yelled at us for not practicing and dragged us home. I think he was worried about you.” Felix said all in one breath. Chan noted to give him a rap verse in I AM: ILL.  
“Channie-Hyung!” came an excited voice. “You’re awake!”  
“Sure am, Innie.” Chan said, sitting up more slowly this time and cuddling into Felix for warmth. He probably still had a fever but Felix had survived Changbin he could handle this. Jeongin bounced down onto the couch on Chan’s other side.  
“How are you, Channie-hyung?” Jeongin asked.  
“I’m definitely feeling better,” Chan said and it wasn’t even a lie. He wasn’t shivering or sweating and the light didn’t hurt his head any more than it normally did when he woke up. “How are Seungminne and Jisungie?”  
“Jisung-hyung just has a cough. He’s being trying to convince Minho-hyung to take him to practice tomorrow for like half an hour.”  
Now Chan was more awake he could hear them in the next room. Jisung had brought out the ‘baby’ card so either he was about to win the argument or Minho would push him. There was no crash so Chan presumed the former.

“And Minnie?” Chan asked.  
Jeongin pouted. “He’s really sick, Hyung. Woojin-hyung said he’s only drinking to take painkillers and moving and light hurts his head too much. I saw him earlier but he couldn’t talk to me.”  
“Our poor puppy,” Chan said. His heart wrenched at the thought of not being there for one of his members when they really needed him but at least Woojin had been there. “Is Woojin with him now?”  
“He’s cooking with Binnie,” Felix said. “We’re getting beef curry but I’m guessing you might be on something else. Hyunjin is with Minnie right now.”  
“I want beef curry,” Chan said.  
“No, Channie,” Woojin called from the kitchen. How long had he been eavesdropping? “You’re getting soup.”  
“I don’t want soup,” Chan called back. “I’ve not thrown up, why can’t I have curry.”  
“Because you got tired eating soup earlier,” Woojin said smiling from the doorway. “Give your body a break from digestion, it’s working hard to beat the flu.” Damn Woojin and his sound logic.

***

Chan finished two bowls of soup at dinner so Woojin let him have some curry since everyone else at the table was eating it. Seungmin had stayed lying in his room and Hyunjin had only briefly left him to wolf down some food. The curry made Chan feel tired again and a little nauseous but he would never admit that. Too bad Woojin knew him too well and subtly put the pink bowl by the couch after dinner. Chan sat quietly at one end of the couch, Changbin stroking his hair this time while Felix and Jeongin played Fortnite hooked up to the TV.  
They were getting louder by the second until Felix yelled out a stream of english curses when his character was shot.  
“Felix,” Chan reprimanded halfhearted.  
“Sorry, Seungminnie-yah,” Felix whispered at the wall and wandered off to go check on his friend.  
Two minutes later he ran back into the living room and crashed on top of Changbin on the couch. “Minnie’s a little better, he was talking to me. Hyunjin’s reading his book to him.  
“The one in English?” Chan asked, surprised.  
“No, it was in Korean. Something with magic in it.”  
“Lix, get off me,” Changbin interrupted but pulled the younger boy back into a hug once there were no more elbows in his stomach.  
Jeongin turned to blink his big brown eyes up at Chan.  
“Yes Innie, you can go see Seungmin now. Wear your mask though, and don't hug him!” Chan called out in vain as Jeongin dashed from the room. He wouldn't be surprised to find Seungmin, Hyunjin and Jeongin all curled up together later.

“You two are setting a terrible example,” Chan told Felix and Changbin but there was no bite to it. After the predebut show he hated to keep members apart from each other and though it was for their own good when one was ill sometimes it was better for everyone's mental health to let them be and face the consequences.  
“Minsung are just as bad,” Changbin retorted, rearranging Felix’s legs in his lap.  
“At least Minho acts like he knows he's doing something wrong. I'm trying to convince Jeongin to stay away from sick people and the two of you are making out on the next bed. How are you not sick, Fe?”  
“The power of love, Hyung.” Felix grinned and crawled over Changbin and behind Chan to massage his neck. “We can sleep in separate beds tonight if that makes you less stressed.”  
“Would you, please,” Chan said, relaxing under Felix's magic fingers. “I'm going to have to pry Innie away from Hyunjin and Seungmin later.” _And check how Seungmin was and that Jeongin wasn't feeling ill. And make sure Jisung hadn't hurt himself or his laptop making that track. And phone Minho to get him back from the studio again. And phone their manager so their comeback wasn't delayed. And-_

“Hyung. Hyung!” Changbin shook Chan's shoulder, pulling him from the rising wave of responsibilities “We can help, don't worry so much. Woojin-hyung spoke to the manager and our schedule's been cleared for the rest of the week. Weekly idol filming has been pushed back too and Minho-hyung is checking our dance videos with the choreographer.” The wave got smaller. Nobody's career balanced precariously on the break.  
“Jisung-”  
“-is almost completely fine now. He's writing a melody for the lyrics we made.” Changbin reassured him. “Anything else worrying you?”  
“Seungmin.” Chan said quietly.  
“He's getting better, Hyung.” Felix said and switched to massaging Chan's temples. If he was trying to squeeze the worry out of Chan’s head it was working. “Hyunjin said his fever is going down and he could talk to me when I went in.”  
“Do you want us to go through all the members,” Changbin said with a teasing lilt. Chan kind of did but he shook his head.  
“Any other worries?” Felix asked. “It doesn’t matter how small.” Damn, Chan had taught these kids too well at Talk Time. They were using all his tricks on him.  
“I’m not doing enough,” Chan mumbled into his blanket. He felt ashamed the moment he said it, burdening his members with stupid problems.  
“What was that Hyung?” Changbin asked. He pulled the blanket down under Chan’s chin and turned Chan’s head to look him in the eye. Chan shied away from the eye contact.

“I’m not doing enough,” Chan said more clearly, staring down at his hands. “I’ve still not finalised the album backing and we have the comeback next month and I’ve had 4 days off work and I’ve not done enough.” Chan said quickly, his voice rising with panic at the end.  
“Hyung, will you be sick if we hug you,” Felix said, his nose inches from Chan’s cheek. Chan shook his head and their noses brushed together. He was gently tackled from behind by Felix and the side by Changbin. “The album is brilliant, Channie-hyung,” Felix said, tucking Chan’s head under his chin. “And you’ve spent the last 4 days either looking after sick members or being sick yourself. You’ve done more than enough.”  
Hyunjin entered the living room before Chan could refute, blinking against the bright light. “Cuddles?” he asked spotting the tangle on the couch.  
“Yes, Jinnie.” Chan said. “Come take Changbinnie, I can’t feel my leg.” 


	5. Chapter 5

Minho stumbled over the entranceway half an hour later, cursing quietly as his bag fell to the ground.  
“You good, Minho?” Chan asked, too entangled in the younger members to get up and help.  
“I’m fine,” Minho replied wearily and shut the door. He shuffled to the couch and dropped to the ground, folding his limbs gracefully as only a dancer can to sit cross-legged.  
“Did you make yourself ill again,” Felix asked, peering over Chan's shoulder. Minho's face was flushed, maybe from the cold on his walk home. He was breathing heavily, maybe from the cold on his walk home. He turned and coughed into his elbow and Chan could hear the way it rattled in his chest. That probably wasn't from walking in the cold.

“Do you want some tea, Hyung?” Felix asked.  
“No,” Minho scoffed, fighting back another cough. Felix tilted his head and stared Minho down. “Ok, yes I'll have some tea.” Minho said grudgingly.  
Felix beamed and bounced out of his spot on the couch, jolting Chan in the process. “Great! I'll go see if anybody else wants some.” Felix said and hugged Minho as the older boy stood wearily to steal Felix's spot on the couch. Minho pressed a kiss to Felix’s hair and the boy ran off down the corridor.

Minho kneed Chan in the back as he sat down and then wrapped all four limbs round Chan’s middle. The things Chan would endure for love. When Felix came skidding back down the corridor he was accompanied by Jisung who announced that he was making hot chocolate. Chan prayed for his kitchen as the near-twins dashed off again.

“Seungminnie!” Chan called, opening his arms wide as the young boy shuffled out of his bedroom after Jeongin, wrapped in his duvet. “ Come see Hyung.”  
Seungmin tipped into Chan’s arms as he reached the couch and Minho grabbed onto the edges of the duvet to help hold him onto Chan’s lap.  
“How are you feeling, Minnie,” Chan asked.  
“Horrible,” Seungmin mumbled. “Everything hurts.”  
“Everything?” Chan asked, running a soothing hand up and down Seungmin's back.  
Seungmin frowned as he did a mental inventory. “ Yes. Everything,” he concluded.  
“Do you think you could eat something?” Chan asked. “The last meal you kept down was yesterday lunch.”  
Seungmin stuck his face into Chan's neck, blocking out the light and the question.  
“Eggs?” Chan asked. It was Seungmin's favourite food and would give him some good energy without upsetting his stomach.  
“No,” Seungmin grumbled into Chan's neck. Jeongin turned out the main light so they were only lit by the muted TV and flopped down by Hyunjin.  
“Rice?” Chan tried again, making eye contact with the others to come up with more ideas. Changbin shrugged and Hyunjin looked apologetic.  
“No,” Seungmin said again but moved into a more comfortable position facing the younger members at the other end of the couch. Jeongin pouted at his reply.  
“Biscuits?” Jeongin asked and was shot down too.  
“No.”  
“I.N?” Changbin joked.  
“No.”  
“Wow it’s really bad if Minnie doesn’t want to eat Jeongin,” Minho said.  
“How about Dinosaur Rice?” Woojin called as he entered the room.

Seungmin's head whipped around.  
“How do you know about Dinosaur Rice?” He asked accusedly.  
_Dinosaur rice?_ Chan mouthed to Minho who looked equally confused.  
“I phoned your mum,” Woojin said. “She told me how to make it. If I go get the ingredients will you eat it?”  
Seungmin looked conflicted. “You won't make it right.”  
“I think I'll do ok,” Woojin said. Neither had explained to their onlookers what the hell dinosaur rice was but it at least had piqued Seungmin's interest.  
“I'll try it,” Seungmin said grudgingly. “Someone has to check if you're doing it right.”  
“Excellent,” Woojin replied. “Innie, can you come to the shops with me?”

Silence lasted a whole 5 seconds before Changbin blurted out, “OK what the fuck is dinosaur rice.”  
“It’s rice and eggs,” Seungmin said. “But not normal eggs.”  
“Let me guess… they’re dinosaur eggs?” Minho asked grinning. Seungmin stuck his tongue out at him.  
“I know they’re not dinosaur eggs but mum would never tell me what was in it. She always said it was special dinosaur eggs to make me strong again.”  
“THATS SO CUTE” Hyunjin growled, grabbing Seungmin’s legs and shaking them. Seungmin groaned at the movement and kicked out at Hyunjin.  
“Sorry, Minnie,” Hyunjin said, pulling his hands back like he’d been burned.  
“That is pretty adorable,” Chan agreed.

Felix and Jisung had spilt sugar all over the floor in the kitchen. They had then spilled a mug of tea and trailed the sticky residue all through the dorm. Chan knew it would be harder to clean up the longer he left it but couldn’t find the energy to even delegate the task. It was a problem for tomorrow-Chan. At least the hot chocolate was good.

After 10 minutes in the kitchen with his secret recipe, Woojin presented one bowl of Dinosaur Rice to Seungmin. The rest of the band watched in anticipation as Seungmin slowly ate.  
“Did I do good, Minnie?” Woojin asked. He was trying not to show he was nervous but Chan could see his toes curling and uncurling in his socks as he stood awaiting the verdict.  
“It’s perfect, Hyung,” Seungmin declared, smiling for the first time all day. “I don’t know if I can finish it though.”  
“That’s ok, Minnie. Eat as much as you can,” Woojin said, sitting down on the arm of the couch beside him.

Woojin reached back to check Minho’s temperature. “You’re taking the day off work tomorrow,” he told the dancer firmly.  
“Can I show Felix and Hyunjin the choreo edits first?” Minho pleaded.  
“Hmm, that sounds like work to me,” Woojin said. “Channie, what do you think?”  
“Oh yeah, that’s definitely work. No can do, Min,” Chan agreed, squeezing Minho’s hand to show he cared since the younger boy was behind him.  
“Channie’s on a laptop ban too,” Woojin comforted Minho.  
What!” Chan shouted indignantly, turning and nearly tipping Seungmin and his rice off his lap. Changbin rescued the sick boy, pulling him into the safety of his lap.  
“I’m working tomorrow,” Chan said, kneeling up on couch to be eye level with Woojin. Minho withdrew his limbs and Jisung waved him over to the Maknae huddle.  
“You are not.” Woojin retorted, crossing his arms. Chan could hear whispers behind him about ‘mum and dad fighting’. When he felt less dizzy Chan was going to show those traitors to respect their elders.  
“I’m fine,” Chan argued, “and how is sitting at a laptop strenuous?”  
“We both know producing is a hell of a lot more than ‘sitting at a laptop’,” Woojin said, the words harsh and clipped. 

Chan couldn’t work out why Woojin was so angry about this, it’s not like he was asking to go into the company. There was a soft tap on his back. Chan turned back, indignation still aflame in his eyes and softed immediately at the sight of Jeongin smiling nervously at him.  
“Don’t work tomorrow, Channie-hyung,” the maknae said. Chan didn’t have the heart to yell at him too and he felt his resolve cracking.  
“That’s a dirty trick, Jeongin,” Chan said, narrowing his eyes.  
“Did it work?” Jeongin asked, sitting up and grinning widely.  
“It might have,” Chan grudgingly admitted and reached forward to pull his youngest into a hug. He was stopped by armed circling his own waist. “Don’t infect Innie,” Woojin whispered in his ear. Chan melted back into Woojin with a sigh and pouted at Jeongin as the maknae retreated back to Hyunjin.  
“I’m still mad at you,” Chan grumbled as Woojin hooked his chin over Chan’s shoulder.  
“I’m mad at you too,” Woojin said mildly, pulling Chan closer into his embrace. They could argue more in the morning, maybe Chan would win if Jeongin wasn’t involved.

Seungmin had fallen asleep halfway through his dinner and Changbin was cradling the sleeping boy as Felix tried to tuck Seungmin’s duvet back around him. Hyunjin had taken the bowl and was steadily chewing his way through it.  
“Hyunjin give Minho the eggs,” Woojin called and the younger boy dutifly fed Minho who was half asleep himself, curled into Jisung’s side.  
“What’s in dinosaur eggs anyway,” Chan asked, now Seungmin wasn’t awake to hear his childhood mystery.  
“It’s normal eggs scrambled with sour cream and cold medicine,” Woojin said.  
“What?” Felix said, looking to Changbin to check he’d heard the Korean right.  
“Cold medicine in the eggs?” Chan asked, incredulous.  
“Yup,” Woojin said. “It’s pretty effective,” he gestured to Seungmin, peacefully asleep for the first time in days.”  
“I can’t believe you fucking drugged me,” Minho said sleepily. “They were such tasty drugs too, what if I get addicted?”  
“Goodnight, Minho,” Woojin said as Minho’s eyes closed.  
“Goodnight, Traitor,” Minho replied

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello hello, I'm still at 6 out of 9- sorry. I'm really enjoying all the interactions between sick and ill members. It shifts the power dynamic a bit, especially when Chan is ill.
> 
> Also I have no idea where dinosaur rice came from. Do not try this at home kids. I was tempted to bring Seungmin's mum in to look after him and the others but then I'd have to write other members being sad that their mums didn't come and I couldn't do that to them. Instead we have surrogate mum Woojin.
> 
> Because this story has been growing I'm going to probably update every day until the 27th? Stay tuned.
> 
> Are there any interactions you think I've been neglecting and want more of? I'm doing my best to give everyone time but it is from Chan's perspective which limits things


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, some strong reactions to dinosaur rice in the last chapter. Funnily enough, I had already written a later chapter which shows that dinosaur rice is in fact kinda gross. I was imagining Calpol(R) when I wrote it originally which is like 90% sugar and tastes like maybe strawberries? I figured adding that to eggs would at least be edible. Does that make it slightly better? I don't know if it does but that's not the point here.
> 
> Anyway, new chapter and I got to 7 out of 9 (woo!) who's it gonna be?

Chan woke in the middle of the night, his mind already on high alert for something. He held his breath and listened for anything that might have woken him up. Changbin's soft snores filled the room but Changbin had been storing above Chan for the last 5 years. If anything the sound comforted him, lulling him to sleep. Everything else was still. Chan reached blindly beside him and unlocked his phone for the time.

The light burned his eyes and it took a few seconds for him to focus on the display. 3.42am. In a normal schedule week there would probably be someone still awake at this time. Most often him but Minho and Woojin had started going to the gym late at night too. They tried to keep the younger members on a regular sleep schedule but it was very much do as I say not as I do.

Chan contemplated getting up to check on his members. On one hand, he didn't want to leave the warm comfort of his bed. On the other, there was no way he would get back to sleep without knowing what woke him up. Chan's internal struggle was cut short by a muffled cough coming through the wall opposite. It wasn't Minho- Chan had learnt his cough over the last few days- and it wasn't Jisung who should be in his own bed tonight like everyone else. That left three members, all of whom were supposedly still healthy when they went to bed.

The cough came again, just once. Maybe the boy was still asleep then. If he was still asleep then Chan could also go back to sleep. As he drifted off Chan tried to convince himself that the cough was too deep to be Jeongin. _If it was Felix he's going to sound like he's possessed_ , was Chan's last though. Jisungs going to love it.

In the morning Chan was tired but otherwise felt fine. He decided to get up and cook breakfast with Jeongin before Woojin could come tell him to rest. Jeongin was already in the kitchen as expected, carefully setting pans on the hob so not to wake everyone.  
“Good morning, Innie.” Chan said, surprising the boy with a tight hug from behind.  
“Get your diseased body away from me,” Jeongin replied.  
“I'm not sick anymore,” Chan protested but stepped back.  
“You'll still have viral particles in you that your antibodies haven't neutralised yet.” Jeongin said, sparking the flame under a pot of water.  
Chan blinked as his brain tried to process the words. “I'm guessing that science words in Korean,” Chan said, and snuck his arms back around the young boy while he was distracted with cooking. “Our Innie is so clever.”  
“Your body's sickness soldiers might have won the battle but there are still sickness bugs they've not killed yet that might get me ill because my sickness soldiers don't know own how to fight the bugs yet.” Jeongin explained again with words Chan was familiar with.  
“Your immune system,” Chan said in English to show he'd understood. “What if my soldiers kill the sickness bugs a little bit before I infect you and then your soldiers learn how to fight the sickness bugs when they're weak and then you never get sick. Like a needle.” Chan said proudly.  
“A vaccine?” Jeongin guessed, batting Chan's hands away. “The injection where you get dead sickness bugs so your soldiers know what the bugs look like for next time?

“What on earth are you two talking about,” Jisung asked, coming into the kitchen. His hair was still in a wild birds nest from sleep and though he’d donned a hoodie over his sleep shirt he hadn’t gone as far as to put on pyjama bottoms despite the cold. On second observation, Chan realised it wasn’t even Jisung’s hoodie but Seungmin’s. For Jisung’s sake, Chan hoped Seungmin was too wiped out from illness to notice.  
“Morning, Sungie. Put more clothes on,” Chan said though he knew he would be ignored.  
“Vaccines,” Jeongin told Jisung. “Channie-hyung didn't know the word.”  
“Who's getting vaccinated?” Jisung asked sleepily, reaching for the teapot.  
“Jeongin,” Chan said, grinning at Jisung over Jeongin's head in anticipation of Jeongin's reaction. Jisung blinked blankly at him.  
“That's not how it works, Hyung.” Jeongin said, frustrated, and pushed Chan off him again.  
“What about if I kiss you better?” Chan asked, undeterred, and lunged to tackle the youngest.  
“I can confirm that method doesn't work,” Minho said over Jeongin's squeals as he joined them. “10 out of 10 would recommend.”  
“ _Would_ recommend, Hyung?” Jeongin asked sceptically. He gave up the fight and stood patiently while Chan peppered his head with kisses.  
“Yeah,” Minho said. “I got sick but I was allowed to cuddle Sungie for like 2 days straight and I didn’t even have to be awake all the time.” To demonstrate Minho slid into Jisung’s open arms and closed his eyes, tilting his face into Jisung’s neck.  
Minho made a good point. Not about the sleep, Chan didn’t need sleep, but about the cuddles. Chan would be sick all over again if it gave him more access to cuddles. Unfortunately, the two people that were best for cuddles had been well when Chan was sick and he only got pats.  
“Did you hear that Innie? If you get sick you’ll get more cuddles,” Chan teased.  
“Great,” Jeongin said sarcastically but Chan knew he only rejected their affection at first because he didn’t want to be a burdensome maknae.

“I’m sure you’re all wondering why I’m gathered you here today,” Chan announced grandly once the four of them were seated at the table with breakfast.  
“We live here,” Jeongin deadpanned.  
Chan waved his comment away. “I have a mystery to solve,” he said, wiggling his fingers dramatically.  
“Woojin ate the last timtam,” Minho said immediately.  
“Your black jeans are in Felix’s pile,”Jisung mumbled around some toast.  
“Wait, what? That wasn’t-” Chan lost his flow. “We’re out of timtams?”

“Your mystery, Hyung,” Jeongin reminded him.  
“Ah! Yes, someone in your room is sick.”  
Minho pulled a face. “Yeah, me. Do you not remember putting me on house arrest last night because then I will be off to the studio before Hyung wakes up.”  
Chan pouted and furrowed his brows. “No. Someone else. I heard coughing last night.”  
“It’ll be Woojinnie-hyung,” Jisung commented and reached for more food. “What?” he asked when he looked up to find three stares ranging from impressed to confused. “He didn’t sing once yesterday?” Jisung offered.  
“Oh god, does this mean Changbin is in charge?” Minho asked.

Chan smacked his arm. “No, it means _I’m_ in charge. Why does nobody believe I’m not sick.”  
“Because you work yourself to death,” Felix said, sliding into the seat next to him.  
Chan wrinkled his nose at him and Felix grinned back, bopping Chan on the nose with his finger.  
“We’re out of timtam’s,” Chan informed him. “Anything else you want from home when I get my mum to send more?”  
“What do you mean 'from home’?” Felix said, doing a terrible job of acting confused. “You guys are my home, everything I want is right here.”  
Chan rolled his eyes.  
“Bro!” Jisung exclaimed in English, reaching across the table to link his hands with Felix. “You're my everything too.”  
“Pro-homo, bro,” Felix replied. “You're the meatballs to my spaghetti.”  
“You know I meant Australia,” Chan said. It was best to cut them off early on because this could continue for hours. Hyunjin always found it hilarious even though he couldn't understand most of the nonsense and it became infinitely more funny when Seungmin cracked and joined in.  
“Nah, I'm good bro,” Felix told Chan.  
“Bro?” Jisung said questionly like this was some sort of scene in a drama. He was still holding Felix's hands and was staring loving at him across the table. Minho smothered him.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas!!! This isn't nearly as wholesome as that vlive today but should you be interested I present: _Too Much WooChan For an OT9 Fic_ Someone stop me

Soon the remaining members woke up and joined the table. Changbin was first, then Hyunjin and Seungmin and finally Woojin.  
“Were you hibernating, Bear?” Changbin asked. Woojin levelled him with a sleepy glare. “-hyung” Changbin added belatedly.  
Woojin messed Changbin's hair aggressively and took the seat left next to him.  
“Sing a C Major scale,” Chan told Woojin before the other boy even had a chance to get food. He had an argument to win.  
“What?” Woojin asked, taking a laden plate from Jeongin with a quiet thank you. “I just woke up.”  
“Doesn't normally stop you,” Minho muttered, and pointedly looked away as Woojin's glare fell on him.  
Woojin sighed, “someone give me a C then,” he asked, resigned. Hyunjin played a keyboard C on his phone and the table went silent to listen. Woojin quickly sang up and down the scale, stuck his tongue out at Chan and ate a mouthful of food.  
“Up the octave,” Chan pressed. He knew now after hearing Woojin pick the lower pitch that the older boy was ill.  
“Why?” Woojin asked innocently. “I already did the scale.” Woojin knew why Chan was testing him. It was just a matter of who would crack first.  
The younger boys had stopped eating now, sensing the tension.  
“I've got an idea,” Chan lied. The members were normally very willing to fulfill Chan's odd requests to help him with producing in some way. Chan was usually pretty vague as he couldn't describe his thoughts well but this was a strange request even for him.  
“That sounds like work, Chan,” Woojin evaded.  
“I can't help thinking about music,” Chan shot back. “Sing the scale and I'll stop thinking about it.”  
Woojin rolled his eyes but gave in. He made it up to A which Chan found astonishing given the circumstances but Woojin wasn't the main vocal for nothing.  
“Why'd you stop?” Chan asked teasingly.  
“Because I'm ill, you dick.” Woojin said, his voice suddenly low and cracked.  
“Language!” Jeongin called.  
“Chan deserved it,” Woojin replied.

“Hyung, how did you fake your normal voice?” Hyunjin asked.  
“A decade of vocal training, “Woojin explained. “It's like sing-talking.” Chan had also had a decade of vocal training and he was pretty sure sing-talking was called rap. What Woojin was doing was called sorcery and it wasn’t taught at JYP.  
“Doesn't it hurt though?” Jisung asked, holding his own throat, the memory of losing his voice still too fresh.  
“Yeah,” Woojin shrugged. “ But Chan and Minho are already ill-”  
“I'm not ill!” Chan interjected. Woojin ignored him.  
“-and there needs to be a Hyung looking at everyone.” Theoretically the 2000-line were adults, in reality they were a time bomb of bad ideas and enthusiasm.  
“So Changbin-hyung's in charge?” Jeongin guessed.

“No!” Changbin quickly denied, eager to dodge the burden. “Felix and I are going to into the company to work on his rap part.”  
“So...Hyunjin-hyung's in charge?!” Jeongin said, dismayed. Hyunjin giggled quietly and it felt threatening.  
“I'm in charge!” Chan said desperately. “I'm not ill.”  
“If you're not ill, I'm not ill,” Woojin challenged.  
“But you're definitely ill!” Chan nearly screamed.  
“Can I get Dinosaur Rice?” Seungmin interjected quietly. He'd been waiting patiently for Woojin to wake up, face buried in a blanket to block the nauseating smell of everyone else's breakfast.  
“Of course, Minnie. I'll go make some now,” Woojin said. He stood and took his plate with him to the kitchen. Chan was never going to win this argument.

“Channie!” Woojin called from the kitchen. It didn't sound urgent but his voice cracked on the N and the cough from last night followed. Everyone winced.  
“We're not going to make the comeback next week, are we?” Jisung said sadly. Changbin shook his head. Minho bit his lip. The rest of the millenium line turned to stare at Chan.  
“I'm sure Woojin will be fine by tomorrow,” Chan reassured them. Chan did not think Woojin would be fine tomorrow but there was no point worrying the kids. He got up and made his way to the kitchen.

“You shouldn't be yelling, Jinnie,” Chan lightly scolded, coming up behind Woojin to rub circles into his back.  
“I forgot,” Woojin croaked back. Chan watched as he measured out a tablespoon of pink cough syrup before pouring it into a bowl with sour cream.  
“That looks gross,” Chan commented. The viscous syrup didn't really mix with the cream and turned it an odd colour.  
“I know, it's worse when I add the eggs.” Woojin said and he was right. The three ingredients didn't go well together and Woojn whisked them strongly to get them to blend.  
“That's also a lot of cough syrup,” Chan noted and picked up the bottle to find the recommended dose. Technical Korean always got the better of him so he put it down again after seeing the tiny dense wall of characters.  
“It's for kids so the dose is less,” Woojin explained. “But yes, that is a lot of cough syrup. We've got to be careful Minnie doesn't eat too much in one day, but I don't think that's really going to be a problem.”  
“Smells weird,” Chan said as the eggs started cooking, the faint pink tinge disappearing.  
“Tastes worse,” Woojin told him. “There’s a gross strawberry aftertaste. I have no idea why Minnie likes it so much.”  
“Because he’s obsessed with eggs?” Chan guessed. “By the way- what did you call me through for?” He asked.  
“Ah! To come get the thermometer. Do you know if Minnie's fever is down yet? Minho was hot last night too.”  
“Minho is hot every night!” Minho yelled from the living room. Of course he was eavesdropping. Chan and Woojin ignored him. The rice cooker beeped and Woojin dished the dinosaur rice as Chan got the thermometer.  
“I should measure you too,” Chan said. “Check you're not walking around with a 40 degree fever.”

Woojin's fever was only 38 and he argued it was within the normal limits. Jeongin overruled and sat both Woojin and Chan on the couch with One Piece episodes playing on repeat. Felix and Changbin had escaped to the company and Hyunjin had wanted to join them but Jeongin had begged him not to leave, puppy eyes in full effect. Hyunjin didn’t stand a chance.

“Hyungs, I finished my rice,” Seungmin announced proudly as he slotted himself between the oldest members.  
“Good job, Minnie,” Chan praised him, pulling the younger boy into his side. “How are you feeling?”  
“Sleepy.”  
“You go to sleep then.” Chan said, pulling their blanket up round him. Seungmin's breathes slowed and his fist clung to Chan's jumper.  
“Pretty potent dinosaurs,” Chan commented. Woojin snorted.

“Did the drugs knock Minnie out?” Hyunjin asked, coming into the living room balancing 3 mugs. Woojin shushed him and waved him out of the way of the TV. “You’ve seen the whole show at least twice, Hyung,” Hyunjin said, deliberately blocking his view as he handed out the drinks.  
“Yeah, Minnie’s completely out, no facemask or earplugs needed.” Chan said, smiling fondly at the boy curled on his lap.  
“He’s cute when he’s not screaming,” Minho said and leaned over to take pictures of Seungmin.  
Woojin took a sip of his drink and recoiled, causing Chan and Minho to look at their own suspiciously.  
“Did you make these, Jinnie,” Minho asked warily.  
“No, Sungie did.” Hyunjin said pouting. “I’m not so bad at cooking I mess up tea. Woojin-hyung’s is hot lemon with honey anyway for his voice.”  
Woojin handed it back. “Tell Sungie it needs more honey,” he requested hoarsely.  
“Han-ah!” Hyunjin yelled back to the kitchen, not moving an inch. “You’re poisoning Woojin-hyung.”  
Chan hid his face in his hand as Seungmin stirred next to him. “Hyunjin, you’re an idiot.” Chan sighed. Seungmin sat up, already frowning. There was an imprint of Chan's sweatpants on his cheek.  
“You’re cute,” Hyunjin told him.  
“You’re going to die,” Seungmin replied.

The rest of the day passed in relative peace. Chan and Woojin stayed on the couch provided One Piece was playing. Jeongin made sure the show didn't stop and fed his Hyungs plenty food and water while they were distracted. Seungmin mostly lay between the oldest members and dozed. His fever had finally come down and though he refused anything but Dinosaur Rice he had started bugging Jeongin every time the younger boy came past. Chan was sure was getting better based on that alone. It had been uncomfortably quiet the last few days in the dorm with Seungmin ill.

By late morning the younger members started getting restless until Minho gave Hyunjin the choreo feedback and sent him off to the company to practice with Jisung and Jeongin after lunch. Minho himself wandered off to watch cat video compilations and his bubbling giggles echoed through the dorm.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this chapter on the train in mirror writing. Turns out I can mirror write very well but I cannot mirror read well. Typing this up took forever.
> 
> I made myself sad thinking about how stressful a comeback must be. SKZ please rest, we're begging you.

Woojin’s coughing got worse as he gave up trying to muffle it from Chan.  
“You’re not hitting your high note next week,” Chan said. It was an observation of facts and there was no way Woojin could argue.  
“Nope,” Woojin agreed wearily. “I could harmonise with the backing track?” he suggested.  
Chan snorted. “You really think you’ll even manage that? It’s pretty sustained. I could cover the harmony for you but we’ll have to have a statement about everyone being ill since it will be pretty obvious if I suddenly take over at the power vocals of your verse.”  
“It’s not ideal,” Woojin mused. “STAY will attack the company for overworking us.” He rolled his eyes. The company didn’t work them nearly as hard as they worked themselves and they gave themselves extra work writing, producing and choreographing everything themselves.  
“It’s that or delay the comeback Chan huffed, punching a cushion in frustration. “The next slot is in a month and we’ll lose all of our music show spots.” They’d worked hard to prepare and their fans were expecting to see them more again and get new music. Some had even pre-ordered the album. It wasn’t fair that it should all fall apart because of a stupid illness they have no control over.

Seungmin shuffled on Chan’s lap and Chan froze, praying not to wake him. The kids couldn’t know how bad the situation was until he had a solution. Woojin held his breath too and they willed the younger boy back to sleep.  
“I heard, Hyungs,” Seungmin said, opening his eyes. “I can switch parts with Woojin-hyung if that’s the only problem. It should be easy to adjust the choreo too since out parts are next to each other. Do you think you can manage my pitch, Hyung?” Seungmin asked. “I’ve not got any sustained notes.”  
“You’d do that, Seungmin,” Woojin asked, overwhelmed. It was a lot of pressure to hold such high notes live while dancing. It was Woojin’s signature for a reason- it was incredibly difficult to pull off. And now Seungmin was offering to take on the challenge with no preparation time.  
Seungmin smiled and made grabby hands at Woojin from Chan’s lap. Woojin gently pulled him up into a bone-crushing hug.  
“We’re a family, Hyung.” Seungmin reminded him. “All of us would do anything we can to help out. You hyungs should rely on us more.”  
“When did you kids get so grown up?” Woojin asked, not loosening his grip in the slightest and rocking them from side to side.  
Seungmin relaxed in his hold and gave a content hum. “We’ll never grow up, Hyung. We’re your kids forever.”  
“Damn right you are,” Chan said, doing his best to keep his voice even and hide how emotional he felt. He joined the hug behind Seungmin and Woojin rocked the three of them as Seungmin started humming Woojin’s part.

 

The tranquil moment was cut off by Changbin bursting through the door, grinning from ear to ear. He had clearly ran up the stairs in his eagerness to share his news, panting as he shrugged off his coat.  
“You'll never guess what happened.”

Chan closed his eyes for a second and took a calming breathe. “What happened?” he asked.  
“PD-nim called us to his office-” Changbin started, his words tumbling over each other in his rush. Chan didn't like the sound of this already. The younger members had almost zero respect for their boss after the survival show and they didn't have the wisdom to hide that fact from him since their careers were still in his hands.  
The excitement in Changbin’s voice rose and Chan focused his attention back on the story. He immediately wished he hadn't.  
“-and then Felix projectile vomited all over his desk. Like, all over. It was incredible.” Changbin finished. Minho had come out of his room hearing the door slam and started giggling. He was soon laughing uncontrollably and slid down the wall on shaking legs to continue his fit on the floor.  
“Minho, this isn't funny.” Chan sighed, scrubbing his face with his hand.  
“What-” Minho hiccuped then coughed. “What do you mean? It's hilarious! PD-nim is going to be terrified of Felix now.”  
Seungmin laughed too. “Lix's secret weapon- his smile,” he announced dramatically. That set Minho off again.

The rest of the boys arrived up the stairs and Changbin stepped aside to let them in. Hyunjin was carrying Felix like a koala and walked in without taking off his shoes to deposit the young Aussie in Chan's arms. Felix was sickly pale and it made his freckles stand out like ink dots on a page.  
“Oh sweetie, it really hit you all at once huh?” Chan said soothingly in English. Felix whimpered. The other boys shuffled in and Minho fetched the pink bowl for Felix. Chan tried not to feel bitter as Felix slid off his lap and cuddled into Seungmin. 

Once everyone was settled around the couch Chan asked for a more detailed account from those who had been at the company. He felt their comeback slipping through his fingers and his fear must have reflected in his eyes because Jisung got off the floor and hugged him tightly.  
“It's going to be fine, Hyung,” Jisung reassured him. “Nothing has been able to stop us so far and this sure as hell isn't going to.”  
Chan wasn't so sure the luck of 9 extended this far but pulled out his phone to call their manager and see if he could convince the company to risk keeping their comeback date set. 

***

“If anyone asks- I'm fine, Woojin is fine, Minho is fine, Seungmin is fine, Felix has perfected all his parts and will be fit by the day after tomorrow.” Chan announced as he came back into the living room from his phone call. His spot on the couch was taken by the millennium line but he chose to lie across them anyway. They deserved it for the stress they put him through.  
“That's not true though, Hyung,” Hyunjin piped up, tickling his sides.  
Chan rolled over, deliberately elbowing Hyunjin in the thigh. “Jinnie, I am well aware but I bet my wages on it to keep our comeback date so it’s just going to have to be true.”  
“You shouldn’t have done that, Chan-hyung,” Jisung said, hugging Chan’s head and kissing his neck to show he was grateful all the same. Chan _knew_ he shouldn’t have but it seemed like the only option left. Woojin frowned at him to say they would be having a longer conversation about this later but thankfully didn’t push it in front of the kids. Minho pinched the back of Chan’s arm from the floor- it was going to be a 2 against 1 conversation. Great.

“We’ll just have to shower Lixie in love and he’ll be better in no time,” Hyunjin said optimistically.  
“Yeah, what happened to ‘The Power of Love’, Lix?” Minho asked after Felix’s claimed ward against illness.  
“PD-nim’s office is so empty of love my protection broke,” Felix said, deadly serious. The legs supporting Chan shook with laughter.  
“Lixie,” Chan scolded fondly. “You can’t say stuff like that.”  
“Yes he can,” Jeongin said, suddenly anger. “PD-nim said you didn’t care about our comeback because you weren’t at practice today.”  
The comment was a familiar cold blade piercing Chan’s chest. Before Chan certainly would have practiced while ill to prove himself. However, now he had more than just his own health to consider and he would never let his members work themselves to the bone to try and please JYP. Fortunately, that went both ways and someone always came to plead, bully and argue him to rest when such a comment got to him.  
“I’m going to get sick and throw up all over his fancy shoes,” Jeongin promised.  
“Jeongin, no,” Chan said with his best parent voice.  
“Jeongin, yes,” Minho countered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is as far as i have written so far so tomorrows chapter might be short. I need to make it more fun too.
> 
> Thank you all for reading, kudoing and commenting. it means a lot


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight delay on this chapter. Unlike _some_ people I leave my work and go to sleep at night time. I'm going hella remote for a New Years trip tomorrow (like the island has no cars at all) so while I will probably finish this in the next couple of days I might have to wait until the 3rd for wifi.

Chan had no idea why he was so exhausted considering he had done nothing all day. The day wasn’t even over yet- it was 3pm.` With a groan he pushed himself out of the comfortable laps of his members and headed for his studio. If he could just take an hour to get the backing levels right on their performance songs there would be one less thing nagging in the back of his head.  
“Channie,” Woojin growled warningly as he left.  
“Let him go, Hyung,” Changbin advised. “He’ll just get more stressed otherwise.”  
Woojin did, but sent Chan a comedic frown as Chan left the room.  
Chan blew him a kiss as he shut the door. “Be good to Jinnie, kids” he called.  
“We're gonna squash him!” Jeongin's gleeful cry was muffled through the walls. Chan smiled fondly and turned to get to work.

Without too much difficulty Chan finished the backing and felt a weight lift off his chest as he clicked save. Changbin came through to check on him after half an hour and Chan passed over the headphones. Changbin's head bobbed with the beat and his eyebrows twitched as he noticed Chan's changes.  
“I really like the balance in the bridge,” Changbin said, handing back the headphones. “Are you done now?”  
Chan tilted his head but conceded. “It’s done if your happy with it.”  
Changbin smiled and pulled Chan up. “Excellent. Seungmin said we're switching his part and Woojin-hyungs. We can go in tomorrow and record his new part if you want?”  
“Seungmin's?” Chan asked. “If he's feeling well enough for it. Don't you want to stay with Felix though?” Chan wanted to stay with Felix. And with Woojin, and Seungmin, and keep Jeongin close by. Preferably the whole band would be within reach at all times.  
Changbin didn't answer.  
“I can take Sungie instead, he wouldn't mind.” Chan offered. “Lix will definitely want you around if he’s ill.”  
“You say that like he didn’t immediately want you the second we were out the office.” Changbin said, pulling Chan back into the living room.  
“Really?” Chan asked.  
“Really,” Changbin confirmed. “Not even in Korean. _‘I want Channie-hyung’_ ” he imitated, dropping his voice.

“Stop making fun of me,” Felix grumbled. He was sat upright in the middle of the couch, focusing very hard on the pink bowl in his hands.  
“I wasn’t,” Changbin assured him and tried to get a hug. Felix pushed him away with one hand, eyes not leaving the bottom of the bowl.  
“Are you going to throw up again, Lix?” Jisung asked, edging Seungmin away from Felix and the firing range. Woojin stayed at Felix’s other side, rubbing circles between his shoulder blades.  
“One minute,” Felix said, voice clipped.  
“One minute what?” Hyunjin asked, leaning over to see. Jeongin pulled him back by his hood.  
“You have one minute to leave if you’re squeamish,” Minho announced, scooting backwards on the floor until he hit Chan’s shins.  
Thirty seconds later Felix’s whole body tensed as he emptied the contents of his stomach into the bowl.  
“At least you’ve got better aim than Binnie,” Chan said as Seungmin passed Felix a glass of water to rinse his mouth. He came over and took the bowl to clean it once Felix promised he was good for now.  
“I’m _sorry_ ,” Changbin said dramatically. “Do you want me to work on my throwing up skills?” he shouted after Chan.  
“Can you?” Jisung said, grinning. “You, Lix and Seungminnie can attack PD-nim from all angles.”

“My abs hurt,” Felix announced. “Throwing up is the worst workout.” Somehow he’d got paler and he was out of breath and sweating like it was the end of dance practice. In reality he’d just slowly sipped a glass of water.  
“You do it so dramatically,” Minho said. He had carefully observed Felix and from his spot on the floor he replicated the wave of convulsion with surprising accuracy.  
“Don’t you dare put that in a dance,” Felix weakly threatened.  
Minho smiled cheekily and continued trying variations on the movement.  
“Is this for Jisung and Changbin-hyung’s song?” Hyunjin asked, standing to join. 

Now Chan was more lucid he could see that this I AM: ILL nonsense was actually becoming something real. Jisung sang their lines as Changbin tapped out the beat and the dancers ran through rough blockings and rudimentary moves. The vomit move became more of an expressive body roll with added head movement right before what Chan could only presume was the chorus. Bewildered, he clapped with the others as they finished.  
“You’ve written a whole song?” Chan asked Jisung.  
“Yeah,” Jisung said proudly. “The others helped too and we need your help for the track and stuff but yeah- new song.”  
Chan was astounded. “And you’ve got a choreo?” he asked Minho.  
“More or less,” Minho shrugged. “I was thinking of splitting the movements in the chorus but I need more people to work that out.”  
“Ok,” was all Chan could reply. “After promotions?” he asked weakly.  
“Of course,” Minho said. “Only if we have time.”  
“Do you like it, Channie-hyung?” Hyunjin asked excitedly. “We can keep working on it?”  
“Yeah, it’s really creative, Hyunjinnie,” Chan told him. “And your melody is catchy Sungie. You’ll have to show me your track later.”  
“Yes, Hyung,” Jisung said, blushing. Chan pulled him into an aggressive side-hug and Hyunjin climbed on top of them. Jeongin got dragged in too and Minho lay on top just to cause havoc.  
“You’re such clever talented boys,” Chan said, trying his best to wrestle everyone as close as possible.  
“Channie, don’t crush them.” Woojin said.  
“Stop using your voice, Jinnie,” Chan reminded him but loosened his grip all the same. Jeongin quickly slid out of reach.

Seungmin captured him instead and mimed biting his head before letting him go again. Felix pouted at Chan and Chan's heart melted. _How was he so good at that?_  
“Come here then, Lixie,” Chan said, shrugging Minho off his back. Hyunjin was still hugging his side but Chan was used to operating with that addition now.  
Felix pouted harder and tightened his grip on the bowl.  
“He wants you to go to him,” Changbin helpfully translated. The couch was already full and Felix was sandwiched between Seungmin and Woojin. Chan didn't know what Felix expected him to do.

Chan carefully detached Hyunjin's octopus arms, sticking them to Changbin instead and moved to sit on top of Woojin. That wasn't any better as Woojin immediately wrapped his arms around Chan's waist and pulled him to his chest.  
“How's this, Lixie?” Chan asked. He reached out a hand and stroked Felix's cheek with one finger as the pout returned. Felix took his arm and cradled it to his chest like a toy. It would have hurt for anyone else with normal bending elbows but Chan was fine. What worried him more was how cold Felix's hands felt and the way he had gone nonverbal.  
“Binnie, can you get one of Felix's stuffed animals for me?” Chan asked. Hopefully the boy would have the sense not to bring back Toto the giant bear.

Once Felix had been coaxed into Chan’s hoodie and been given two stuffed animals in addition to Chan’s arm he stopped pouting.  
“You gotta talk to me, Lix, if you want me to help,” Chan told him gently in English. Felix pouted again. Chan felt his patience thinning.  
“Relax, Channie,” Woojin whispered in his ear, feeling the younger boy tensing on his lap.  
“He doesn’t want to talk in case it makes him throw up again,” Changbin said. Did they have some sort of telepathic link Chan wasn’t aware of? Changbin couldn’t even see the pout from his position.  
“Talking won’t make you throw up,” Chan assured Felix. He got a glare in return. Felix wasn’t convinced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Felix is very cute when ill but Chan might just strangle him before he recovers.  
> Also I loved the idea of Chan suddenly realising they had a new song and he wasn't even involved. These kids are too powerful, I'm telling you now.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello fine people and happy new year!!  
> I had a wonderful week in the wilderness, miles from the nearest shop let alone WiFi. 
> 
> I'm reaching the end of this fic but I'm enjoying this so much I'm not sure if I will end it where I intended or continue a bit to cover the whole episode. Maybe it can be an epilogue.
> 
> Anyway at least 3 chapters left.

Hyunjin volunteered to take Felix’s place making dinner but Seungmin quickly offered himself as the alternative. Seungmin was unanimously voted as the prefered cook.  
“Don’t make Dinosaur Rice,” Minho joked.  
“I don’t even know the recipe, otherwise I would,” Seungmin snarked back.  
“No!” Chan and Woojin chorused. While it was great to get Seungmin to eat something, Dinosaur Rice was a questionable meal at best.  
“Why not?” Seungmin asked, suspicious. “What’s in it?”  
“It’s just not a balanced diet,” Chan lied. “You’ll get better sooner with more vegetables.”  
Jisung suddenly launched into a coughing fit that sounded suspiciously like ‘ _They’re drugging you_.’ Chan pinned his with his scariest glare. His scariest glare wasn’t very scary.  
“Your cough sounds really bad, Sungie,” Woojin said, concern lacing his voice. “You’d better not work on that song tomorrow and rest.”  
Jisung’s eyes went wide and he hurriedly shook his head. “I’m fine, Woojinnie-hyung. Just, uh, breathed wrong? Yeah, I breathed wrong. I’m fine, I can work.”  
“That’s good to hear,” Woojin said, smiling sweetly. _Damn_ , Chan had to learn how to do that. Seungmin was oblivious and left for the kitchen to make spaghetti with Jeongin.

Felix refused to move for dinner though at least he used words to express himself. His unwillingness to move and eat seemed to come in waves with nausea though he didn’t get as far as throwing up again. They ate dinner on the couch and floor around him, having long given up on normalcy and routine.  
“Do you want a bite,” Changbin asked Felix, voice ridiculously high with aegyo on 100%. He held his chopsticks out with pasta and blinked his eyes wide at the younger boy. Felix would normally reply in the same voice, even to refuse him, but this time his voice stayed low and quiet. Chan only heard his reply because he was seated right next to him.  
“I’m scared I’ll vomit again,” Felix admitted, pushing Changbin’s hand away.  
“You’re scared to throw up?” Chan asked, quietly.  
Felix nodded hesitantly. “It’s like drowning and you can feel it about to happen but you can’t take a deep breath. Every. Time.” Felix spoke slowly and evenly so he was never short of breath. Chan could see this was something he was genuinely terrified of.  
“Oh, Lixie, I’m sorry you had to get ill this way,” Chan said. “Is there anything I can do to help?”  
“Me too,” Changbin said, putting down his spaghetti to hold Felix’s hand. Felix stared holes into bottom of the pink bowl and gripped Changbin’s hand tight.  
“Could you- could you not leave me?” Felix asked. “So I don’t panic when I can’t breathe.”  
“Of course,” Chan agreed immediately.

That’s how Chan ended up on the couch at 3am using every ounce of willpower to stay awake for Felix. He had his laptop out, staring blankly at the screen as the white light washed over his face. Felix beside him had acquired more stuffed animals via various members but still refused to move or lie down. The young boy just focused intently on the bowl in his lap and the sensations of his body, on high alert for the slightest sign of his fear. Chan glanced to the side to see Felix’s blinks getting longer. After a minute his eyes didn’t open again. After five more his breathing had slowed and his grip on a stuffed monkey slackened. Chan gently tipped Felix to the other side so his head could rest on the giant stuffed bear next to him. Theoretically Chan could sleep now, if only on the couch. He sighed and turned back to his laptop, ignoring the way his eyes were burning.

 

“Channie-yah!” Woojin whispered, shaking his arm to wake him. The room was dark and Felix still lay asleep next to him. Woojin had taken the laptop off him and set it on the table.  
“What time is it?” Chan asked, stretching out his stiff muscles. He felt bones pop in his spine and yawned.  
“Just after 4,” Woojin told him. “My coughing keeps waking me up when I lie down so I can take over here and you can go sleep on a bed.”  
“Or you could sit down and I could sleep on you?” Chan suggested. It had been a while since he’d got to just sit and hug Woojin what with so many of the others being ill. He might even get pats, a new addition.  
“You just want pats,” Woojin said, reading his mind. He pulled Chan up, spun them round and sat down in Chan’s place. Chan sat down right on top of him, worming his arms between Woojin’s back and the couch.  
“Damn right, I want pats,” Chan said.  
“5 minutes, then bed.” Woojin said and Chan snuggled closer.

True to his word, Woojin woke Chan from his doze 5 minutes later and sent him to his room. Chan was too sleepy to argue and all but crashed into his mattress, guessing his way across the room in the dark with Changbin's snores as a homing beacon.

Chan next woke to a faint beam of light shining through a crack in the curtains and a heavy body on his. Without turning he already knew it was Jisung from the skinny legs and long hair brushing the back of his neck.  
“What're you doing here, Sungie?” Chan asked, shifting to better cuddle the boy.  
“Seungmin's better.” Jisung grumbled. That meant Seungmin had also noticed the growing mess Jisung was creating in their shared room and had started nagging Jisung about it.  
“So you're hiding here?” Chan asked.  
“No,” Jisung muttered indignantly. “I'm _sleeping_ here since it's quiet and I kept coughing in the night. I'll tidying my shit later.”  
“Later _today_ ,” Chan pressed.  
“Sure,” Jisung agreed. Chan could hear people up and moving in the dorm. It was a comfortable background noise so he rearranged Jisung into a less pointy configuration and let himself doze.

It felt like barely a few minutes had past and the door slammed, just as Jisung had finally settled too. He'd been kneeing Chan in the stomach every time he coughed.  
“Breakfast is ready,” Jeongin announced.  
“Thanks, Innie,” Chan replied wearily. “Was Woojin awake when you got up?”  
“Yeah, he was on your laptop. I think learning Seungminnie-hyung's part.” Jeongin said.  
Chan added that to his list of worries. “This comeback is madness,” he said to himself and shook Jisung awake.

 

“Good morning, Hyung.” Felix greeted. “I got surprised this morning when you'd turned into Woojin.”  
“Ah, didn't you know we can shapeshift?” Chan asked, pressing a kiss to his forehead. Felix wasn't warm so at least he didn't have a fever. “You seem more cheery this morning.”  
Felix wrinkled his nose. “I'm safe just now because I've not eaten yet.”  
Jisung flopped down on to the couch next to him and Felix happily hugged him. “I'll get my kisses in now then,” Jisung said, pursing his lips at Felix.  
“Jisung-ah, consent before mouth kisses.” Chan reminded him half-heartedly.  
“Felix always consents though,” Jisung said.  
“That's not how it works..” Chan trailed off as Felix nodded and Jisung sloppily lunged for Felix's lips. Then Felix's cheeks and nose and neck.  
“Jisung-ah!” Changbin scolded as he brought through a plate of sausages for breakfast. “He's ill, can you not find another victim?” Jisung pursed his lips in Changbin's direction and wiggled his eyebrows. “No! Not me!” Changbin protested. “Come eat your breakfast, you leech.”

“I'm not eating breakfast,” Felix said when Jisung tried to drag him to the table.  
“Yes you are,” Chan overruled. “I know you're scared but you'll make yourself more ill if you starve yourself.”  
“Not in my experience,” Felix huffed and let his weight drop to the floor so Jisung couldn't pull him.  
“Lee Felix, we have a comeback in 5 days. You are eating your breakfast.” Chan snapped.  
Felix cowered and Chan immediately felt terrible. Had he just made Felix more scared of him than of throwing up?  
“Shit. Felix, that's not- I'm so sorry- I didn't-” Chan garbled in English.  
Minho slapped his hand over Chan's mouth. “Lixie, in this job you need to eat or you'll never recover.” Minho said with such confidence Chan wondered what he'd experienced as a backup dancer. “It might be scary but nobody is going to leave you alone, I promise.”  
Felix hesitated then lifted his arms and Minho leant down to scoop Felix up like he weighed nothing. 

The others joined them at breakfast and Minho sat with Felix on his lap as Changbin coaxed Felix to eat. Chan stabbed at his food, having lost his normally insatiable appetite.  
“Don't have a tantrum, Channie-hyung,” Jeongin told him quietly. “Lix-hyung knows you only want him to be better. He's just scared.”  
“But I made him more scared,” Chan whispered.  
“You're our leader, we've got to be a little scared of you sometimes.” Hyunjin chipped in. Chan wished that wasn't the case.

Thankfully, Felix didn't stay scared of him for long and requested Chan sat next to him again for his vigil on the couch. Jisung and Changbin took Seungmin to the studio to cut in a hasty recording of Woojin's part for their live performances. And with Minho better, he and Hyunjin also ran off to the practice room to finalise the choreography.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was that?
> 
> My headcannon is that Jisung kisses all the members non -romantically


	11. Chapter 11

Not even half an hour had passed before Felix's breakfast made a reappearance. Felix then spent the next two hours completely frozen in place as if sheer will could overcome biology. Woojin joined them on the couch while he memorised Seungmin's part but he was on a speaking ban to save his voice. Chan played him Seungmin's recording over and over, doing his best to premeditate the mistakes he thought Woojin would make.  
“This bit has a crescendo if you can,” Chan said, making a note on Woojin's sheet music. “So the previous line is a little quieter to fit the lyrics. Innie does the same when- wait…” Chan paused, counting members under his breath. He turned to face the corridor and yelled. “I.N-ah!”  
“Yeah?” came the muffled reply before a thud as Jeongin jumped out of bed.

“Why didn't you go in with the others?” Chan asked when he appeared.  
“Because I'm not a dancer or a producer?” Jeongin offered.  
“You know Minho and Hyunjin would have been happy to have you along, right?” Chan said. They would probably be ecstatic to get some quality time with the maknae.  
“They're busy, I'd slow them down.” Jeongin replied. Chan doubted that. Jeongin had practiced intensively with Minho for this comeback, determined that his dancing didn't measure up to the group. Now he put Chan's years of training to shame.  
“Do you want to help Woojin with Seungmin's part? You know it better than I do.” Chan suggested. Jeongin agreed, excitedly explaining the differences between his part and Seungmin's.

Felix gradually relaxed with exhaustion outweighing fear. Chan took the pink bowl from his loose grip and pulled the young boy closer.  
“Get some sleep, Fe.” Chan told him. “Save your energy.”   
Felix grumbled something in reply but pillowed his head on Chan's shoulder and closed his eyes nonetheless.  
“He's not looking so pale as yesterday,” Woojin observed. The colour had returned to his cheeks and asleep Felix appeared healthy. Chan suspected his illness was more psychological than physical now, though he wasn't sure that was a good thing.   
“Rest your voice, Woojin,” Chan reminded him. For any regular job Woojin probably would have been fit to work this entire time. The life of an idol was no regular job however and Chan just hoped Woojin could at least get to some level of healthy before the comeback started wearing then down again.  
Woojin stuck his tongue out at Chan and Chan did the same back.

This time when the boys arrived back from the company there were no ill members and no stories of run-ins with their boss. Chan took that as progress.   
“Do you want to listen to my recording, Hyung?” Seungmin asked, smiling proudly.   
Chan had no idea if he was asking him or Woojin but he replied all the same. “Of course, Minnie. Give me the stick.” Beside him Woojin nodded enthusiastically and pulled Seungmin down into a hug.  
Changbin handed Chan the USB drive, and Chan plugged it into his laptop, connecting it to the Bluetooth speakers.   
Seungmin's gentle vocals rang out into the room.

“Wow,” Woojin rasped as the recording finished, hugging Seungmin tight. Chan didn't even tell him off.  
“Where have you been hiding that, Minnie?” Chan asked. It was rhetorical, Chan had known from the first time he heard Seungmin sing he had the talent to carry an entire song.  
“That's his second attempt too,” Changbin said proudly. “We barely had to give him any direction.”  
“We've sorted the choreo too,” Hyunjin added.   
“Jinnie-hyung we can demo it after dinner.” Minho offered. “You just slide forward a few phrases earlier and then do the point choreo with the rest of us. For Minnie's second part we figured you can just stay where you are.”  
Chan felt an overwhelming rush of love for them all, so proud to see them all growing an supporting each other.   
“Don't cry, Channie-hyung,” Jeongin joked, having seen Chan's face.   
“I'm not.” Chan protested. “I just-”  
“Yes, Hyung. You love us.” Jisung interrupted with fake exasperation. “We'd do a group hug but it's better not to wake Lix.”

***

“I have to be better today, Chan bet his paycheck,” Felix said when Minho asked if he was eating dinner.   
“Chan-hyung,” Chan corrected.   
“I don't know,” Felix said. “A hyung wouldn't do something that stupid while he still had debt to pay off.”  
“It's almost paid off,” Chan said. With 8 years of training he had accumulated the most debt and was the only one who hadn't cleared it yet despite his higher pay as the leader. It wasn't something Chan wasn't worried about as their popularity was still rising.  
“You know you're getting a split of all our wages if we have to cancel the comeback,” Jisung said. Nobody else seemed surprised. _When had they discussed this?_  
“No!” Chan said. “ I made that decision by myself. You guys shouldn't suffer.”  
“And we made this decision together,” Minho retorted. “Nine or none, Channie-hyung.”

 

Felix was more enthusiastic about dinner than breakfast. Chan had added less spice than normal in the hope Felix would be able to stomach it for longer. Jeongin made a face about it across the table after one mouthful. Hyunjin copied him in agreement. Chan threw the chilli flakes at Jeongin's head and signalled at them not to mention it.

After dinner Felix sat out while they ran through the new choreo at half speed, sliding about the floor in their socks. Woojin picked up the changes easily and Seungmin mocked Woojin's style, standing side on with his chin held up high.  
“Keep that in,” Felix called, laughing. “See if STAY can work out we switched the parts.”  
Chan called them to double speed once Woojin mastered the change. It would be a good practice for the variety shows and hopefully would distract Felix long enough for him to digest his dinner.

It wasn't the best of plans as both Woojin and Jisung were coughing by the time they gave up in the second verse.  
“Ok, ok. That's enough for now,” Chan said. “Jinnie, sit down before you fall down.” He herded his members back to the couch and and went to get them all a glass of water.

Jeongin's face was screwed up in pain before he noticed Chan standing over him with his drink. Chan raised a questioning eyebrow.  
“It's just growing pains,” Jeongin said dismissively, uncurling from fetal position to take his drink.  
“You’re working on that with the physiotherapist, right?” Chan asked, sitting down next to him. He pressed a finger against Jeongin's shin bone to gage if Jeongin was lying or if the pain was worse.   
Jeongin flinched away. “Yeah, my legs. My back hurts too,” he admitted.  
“You've got to stop growing, baby.” Hyunjin told him, patting down Jeongin's thick fringe to get a rise out of him. “I'm supposed to be the tallest.”  
“I'm already the tallest,” Jeongin replied, shoving him. “You're just all short.”  
“Who are you calling short!” Changbin yelled from the other end of the couch.  
“Literally everyone, Hyung,” Jeongin said, exasperated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate to do it to Jeongin but the boy has to have growing pains with the rate he's shooting up. Especially with high impact sport like dance 😔
> 
> Who knows what will happen with this hypothetical comeback? Not me, I've not written that far yet but they're such talented boys I'm sure it will be fine


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess this is kinda a filler chapter sorry. I had to set up some people in the right places. Hopefully there is some humour to keep you entertained

Whether the work of Chan's distraction or Felix's immune system, Felix didn't throw up again. The food gave him a burst of energy he hadn't had in days and Chan resorted to mario kart to stop him running around the dorm. Seungmin got aggressive in mario kart.  
“I will murder you in your sleep and make it look like your cats did it,” he threatened Minho when he was hit by a blue shell.   
“My cats don't even live in Seoul,” Minho replied, unbothered as he set up another attack on the young singer.  
“I can work with that,” Seungmin said. Minho's character finished, preventing Seungmin from completing his lap and Chan swiftly took the controller out his hands before it could be used as a weapon.

 

After an hour of intensive matches with Jeongin keeping a detailed scoreboard, Chan started sending people off to bed. Hyunjin was always the easiest if he'd been sitting still and Seungmin went to sleep voluntarily long before everyone else. Jeongin also didn't need prompting. He was currently on break from school but still slept earlier than most of them. Jisung was attempting to sleep upright to stave off his cough, curled into Woojin's side. 

Felix was avoiding horizontal for different reasons.  
“You can sleep with me?” Chan offered. “Or Binnie, or Minho?” Those were his best options. Hyunjin would probably hug him too tightly and Seungmin would straight-up refuse to share his bed. Chan wasn't letting Felix anywhere near Jeongin until he was definitely free from illness.  
“Why can't I stay on the couch with Woojin-hyung and Sungie?” Felix said, crossing his arms.  
“Because Woojin and Jisung aren't staying on the couch,” Chan said, staring pointedly at Woojin.  
Woojin looked betrayed but stood and took Jisung to his room. Chan turned back to Felix.   
“Please can I stay on the couch?” Felix asked.  
Changbin held out his hand. “Come on, we'll steal Chan-hyung's bed so you don't have to go on the top bunk.”  
“I want to stay on the couch,” Felix repeated.  
Changbin let his hand slowly drop, turning away with a dramatic sigh.   
Felix scrambled to reach him. “No, don't go! I can sleep in Channie-hyung's bed. Can we have plushies though. Toto?”  
Changbin rolled his eyes but allowed it. “I'm going to fall out of bed in the middle of the night with that giant thing in there too,” he grumbled as he dragged Felix to the bathroom to get ready for bed.  
“Sucker!” Minho called after them though he would have endured exactly the same thing in a heartbeat. He started filling Chan and Changbin's room with soft toys.  
“Kicked out my own bed, in my own home,” Chan complained to the empty room. He could easily take Changbin's bed or Felix's but one of the perks of being a Hyung was getting the bottom bunks that wasn't something he gave up lightly. After a second of deliberation Chan went and grabbed his pyjamas before heading or the big room to cuddle up with Woojin.

Chan woke to someone roughly shaking his shoulder. “What is it?” He asked grumpily.   
The shaking stopped immediately. “Shit.” That was Jeongin, Jeongin who should not know swears in English. “Sorry Hyung, go back to sleep.” Jeongin said hurriedly.  
Chan half sat up, pulling Woojin's arm off of him. The older boy didn't stir. He switched on the bedside light and fixed the maknae with a challenging state.  
“Why were you trying to wake Woojin, Innie?” Chan asked.  
Jeongin wrung his hands. “Turns out the pain might be more than growing pains?” he offered weakly.   
“You're ill,” Chan sighed. “I knew this would happen.” He reluctantly swung his legs out of bed and got up. Woojin grumbled and reached out for him but thankfully didn't wake. 

Chan tugged Jeongin to the kitchen and turned on the lights. They both squinted uncomfortably as their eyes adjusted. Chan looked Jeongin over for signs of illness.  
“What wrong with you then?” Chan asked, getting out the medicine box.  
“I just hurt kind of all over, not just my bones like with growing pains. It must have woken me up when the painkillers I took before bed wore off. And uh, now I'm not in bed I feel really cold.” Jeongin admitted.   
“Yup, that sounds familiar,” Chan said sympathetically. “Let's see if you have a fever.”

Thankfully, Jeongin didn't have a fever yet and he claimed not to feel nauseous. After he'd had more painkillers and some cold medicine Chan let him climb back up to bed provided he come wake Chan if he felt any different. Woojin didn't stir as Chan snuck back under his covers and pressed his freezing feet against the sleeping boy's calves.

Chan didn’t get back to sleep. He tried, he really did. For half an hour he lay curled in the most comfortable position, eyes closed, slowing his breathing to match Woojin’s. He tried to clear the thoughts from his head but seconds later he’d be worrying again. It was like tugging a loose thread and unravelling the entire plan for their comeback he’d just hastily knitted together. After a while he gave up trying to sleep and just lay on his back, staring up at the bottom of Felix’s bunk in the darkness.

He heard Jisung cough, then cough worse and get up for a glass of water. The boy walked into a door frame on his way back with a quiet thud and a curse. Chan would check him for a bruise in the morning. Chan also noticed when Woojin shifted from deep sleep to shallow sleep as he started shifting and latched onto Chan again. Across the room, there was no movement as the other two boys slept peacefully. Hopefully Jeongin could fight the illness early on in his sleep and would wake up with the worst of it over. Woojin coughed and Chan felt his breath wheezing and heard how raw his voice sounded. He shouldn’t be preparing any singing in this condition. The first cough must have tickled something in his throat because after that Woojin didn’t get more than three breaths before he was coughing again, still asleep.   
“Shut the fuck up,” Minho groaned from across the room, words slurred with sleep.  
“He can’t help it, Min,” Chan whispered.  
“Murder him then,” Minho suggested, pulling his pillow over his head. Chan wasn’t going to do that.

With difficulty Chan wriggled until he was sitting up against the headboard and then pulled Woojin by his armpits until he was semi-upright too, his head on Chan’s shoulder. Woojin shifted, pulling his legs up and cleared his throat but didn’t cough.  
“Is that better?” Chan murmured absently, stroking up and down his back.  
“I guess it’s less messy than murder,” Minho answered though Chan hadn’t meant the question for him. He had taken his head back out from under his pillow and was watching Chan through half-lidded eyes.  
“Go back to sleep, Min,” Chan told him fondly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've done it, 9 out of 9. Now I've just got to resolve everything... How ill is Jeongin? Can Woojin sing? Have they practised enough? Will JYP let them comeback? and most importantly, when will irl 3RACHA drop I AM: ILL on soundcloud?


	13. Chapter 13

Woojin didn’t stay asleep much longer, complaining that his back hurt when he woke up. Chan hurriedly apologised but Woojin just waved him off and rearranged the bedding so they could sit comfortably. When Woojin asked why Chan was awake Chan explained about Jeongin.  
“It was bound to happen,” Woojin sighed. “Are you going to tell the company?”  
Chan groaned and scrubbed his face with his hands. “I don’t know what to do,” he admitted. “The sensible thing to do would be to cancel the comeback and wait until everyone is properly well again.”  
“But-” Woojin prompted, knowing Chan had to get the thoughts out.  
“But it would mean months of work down the drain, disappointing STAY and losing popularity. If JYP decides to stop promoting us in favour of more profitable groups-”  
“Chan,” Woojin could sense him spiralling. “Chan! Chris, look at me,” Woojin whispered harshly, wary of his sleeping roommates. “No matter what happens, we’re going to be fine,” Woojin promised, smiling gently at him. “We go at our own pace, yeah?”  
“Yeah,” Chan agreed reluctantly.  
“Maybe we’re all well enough to comeback on time with just a few adjustments, maybe we have to wait another month and do a lot of vlives to keep our fans interested. Both are ok, Channie. It’s going to be fine.”  
“I’m really glad you joined JYP, Jinnie,” Chan told Woojin for what might be the hundredth time as they hugged awkwardly side by side.  
“I’m really glad you picked me for your team,” Woojin replied as he always did.

They sat in companionable silence, neither wanting to get up and start the day. After a while Woojin started to sing Seungmin’s part quietly. He still couldn’t reach his upper register and left silent pauses where high notes were. At the end of the part he started again and Chan noticed more notes were added that time.  
“Don’t destroy your voice,” Chan warned but trusted Woojin to know his limits. After four runs Woojin stopped and Chan handed him a bottle of water from beside the bed.  
“You done?” Chan asked.  
“For now, that’s a high as I can go,” Woojin admitted.

From across the room there was a muffled groan and a mop of hair appeared over the barrier of Jeongin’s bunk.  
“I’m sorry baby, did I wake you up? Woojin asked, concerned.  
“Huh?” Jeongin replied eloquently, rubbing at his eyes. “Channie-hyung can I have more painkillers?”  
Chan checked the time. It had been three hours since his last dose so he could have more but he’d go over the daily limit by midday if he kept this up. “Not yet, Sweetie. Do you want to come down and cuddle with us?”  
Jeongin whined and half-heartedly held out a hand. Chan got up and stood to catch Jeongin from the bottom of his ladder as the boy made a feeble attempt to get off his bed.  
“You’re all limbs,” Chan commented as he carried the maknae across to Woojin’s bed. Woojin beckoned Jeongin under the duvet and the young boy curled up in his lap, leaving Chan just enough space to join them in the single bed.

“I can hear you wheezing, Woojin-hyung,” Jeongin said. He lifted his head from Woojin’s chest and frowned at him worriedly. “Should I get off you?”  
“You’re not going anywhere,” Woojin said, tightening his grip. “I need Innie hugs to get better.”  
“You need water and throat lozenges,” Jeongin retorted.  
“Yah!” Woojin whisper-yelled. “Don’t be smart.”  
Chan laughed at their antics. “If Jinnie has any more water he’ll lose solid form,” he told Jeongin. Drinking water was a nervous habit Woojin had picked up as a trainee and had never quite got rid of. Now he was sick with no other output for his stress his old habit had resurfaced.  
“Drinking water is good for you,” Woojin protested.  
“Two litres a day, not two litres an hour,” Chan shot back.  
“Go argue in the living room,” Minho moaned.

“Sorry, Minho-hyung. I started it,” Jeongin called over.  
“Innie?” Minho asked, the harsh tone leaving his voice. “What are you doing over there?”  
“Channie-hyung won’t give me more painkillers so I’ve come here to die,” Jeongin said dramatically.  
“He’s ill,” Chan explained.  
“Not the maknae,” Minho cried, reaching out to him but not actually bothering to get out of bed. “You had so much left to live for.” 

There was a knock on the door and Seungmin stuck his head in. “We heard voices,” he explained before he and a sleepy Jisung joined them.  
“The plague has taken our only child,” Minho told them.  
“Innie’s sick?” Seungmin asked worriedly, rushing over to him. Chan bit back a scream as Seungmin knelt on his leg and pulled the young boy into his lap to prevent further damage. Seungmin wriggled to face Jeongin.  
“I'm sorry for you, Innie,” Seungmin said, gently pushing the young boy's fringe back. “Hopefully you won't get it as bad as me.”  
Jeongin nodded and gave Seungmin a smile to ease his worry.  
Jisung came over at a more reasonable pace to give Jeongin a kiss on the forehead before retreating to Minho's bed where there was more space.

They were discussing breakfast plans when a phone started the impatient buzzing of a call.  
“That's mine.” Chan said reluctantly. “Minnie can you get it for me.”  
The room waited in worried silence as Chan answered the call. After quick but reluctant agreement with the caller Chan hung up.  
“It was our manager,” he explained. “PD-nim wants a meeting with me.”  
“Just you?” Woojin asked.  
“Just me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooh. What's JYP gonna say. (Idk, once again I haven't planned that far)
> 
> Also everyone is whipped for Jeongin. This is a fact.
> 
> This chapter's a little shorter because I just had to use that cliffhanger. If I get another 1000 words written tonight I might upload the next chapter early just because


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote another 1000 because I had a horrible idea. I am SO sorry. Really. I'm really really sorry. I had to do it for the story arc. Forgive me.

Chan had two hours before his meeting so they hurriedly called a team meeting in the big room. Seungmin was sent to gather the remaining members and they huddled together on Minho's bed, five facing four.  
“What do you want to do?” Chan asked them. Everyone was hesitant to answer, looking around for someone to go first. Chan waited, not wanting to influence the younger members opinions.  
“I think I can do Seungmin's part the way we practiced.” Woojin said eventually. “Not today,” he added as Chan opened his mouth to protest, “but in four days I'll be fine. However, this isn't about just me. I think it depends on Jeongin,” he said, squeezing the boy on his lap tighter. “If Innie really feels he's well enough I'll support him to stick to the schedule. But, if you don't feel well enough to do the whole promotion schedule,” Woojin paused looking Jeongin right in the eyes. “You have to tell us. We'd rather you were healthy than have another album.” 

“I agree,” Changbin said and he was echoed around the room.  
“I'm a little weak but I can manage the comeback,” Felix added. “Innie you have less time to recover, we understand if you can't do it.”  
“I can handle it,” Jeongin said but he sounded unsure and he struggled to meet Felix's gaze.  
“Innie, you better not be lying to avoid causing problems,” Chan said warning, checking his forehead for a fever again. There was no fever yet but Jeongin was swaying slightly. A glance at Woojin told him the older boy could feel it too.  
“I can do it!” Jeongin said angrily, slapping Chan's hand away. “It hurts but I'm not going to ruin the comeback because I'm sick.”

“You can't start a promotion hurting, Innie,” Hyunjin said, eyebrows draw in worry. “You won't get enough rest to get better.”  
“I said I can do it,” Jeongin said again. Chan didn't think he'd realised he was swaying and Woojin's arms were most of what was keeping him upright.  
“Innie,” Seungmin said gently, reaching out to cup Jeongin's chin. He didn't get to finish his sentence as Jeongin's eyes fluttered and he dropped like a stone in Woojin's arms.

“He's fine,” Woojin called calmly as the members rushed forward. Chan did not think that was _fine_. Chan didn't know what he thought because his head was filling with a pounding alarm repeating _Jeongin, Jeongin, Jeongin_ but it was not _fine_. Woojin gently pushed Chan and Seungmin off the bed and laid Jeongin down as he began to come round again.  
“What happened?” Felix said, panicking. “Why did he collapse?”  
The other members weren't any better, all crowded round the bed. Minho tried in vain to get them to move back.  
“He fainted,” Woojin explained. Jeongin blinked back awake and Woojin smiled softly at him. “Hi darling. Next time you get a migraine that bad, just tell us. You nearly gave Channie a heart attack.”

“But you wouldn't have let me decide on the comeback,” Jeongin whined. He tried to sit up and Jisung pushed him back down.  
“We're definitely not letting you decide now!” Changbin said, his voice breaking in panic. “You blacked out, Innie. Sitting still. Imagine if we let you perform?”  
“The comeback is _cancelled.”_ Chan said as soon as his brain allowed thoughts to form.  
Nobody opposed him, all too shocked by Jeongin's faint to consider anything else.

Quietly Jeongin's face crumpled and he started to cry, bringing up his arms to hide his face. Hyunjin, already crying, climbed onto the bed next to him and curled around Jeongin, cradling his head. That broke the dam and the members all squeezed in next to each other on the tiny bed, seeking comfort in being as close to each other as possible.

Jisung got up first, running to get Jeongin painkillers and strawberry milk. They helped Jeongin up into sitting position and Jisung placed the pills in his hand. Jeongin looked hesitantly to Chan.  
“Of course you can take them, Innie,” Chan said, hating himself for denying him earlier. “If the pain is enough to make you black out we can get you a prescription for a higher dose if we need to. Don't, don't let it get that bad again.” Chan couldn't bear the thought.

Jeongin took the pills and dutifully finished his milk before being tugged back down by Hyunjin.  
“Close your eyes,” Felix ordered and Jisung turned off the light. They huddled together in heavy silence, nobody moving even to eat breakfast. With the comeback cancelled there was no drive to practice, the mere thought soured by the cruel twist of events. 

Chan's legs went numb under Changbin's weight and his wrist hurt from being twisted at a strange angle as Felix held it in a vice grip but he didn't care. The pain was helping to keep him grounded. Imagined images of Jeongin collapsing on stage kept cycling through his head. He'd seen every arena, every outfit, and it was horrible every time. Minho shook him out of his thoughts.  
“Hyung, you have your meeting,” he reminded Chan apologetically.

“Don't go,” Changbin said. “What the fuck does it matter what he has to say anyway.”  
“Yeah,” Seungmin agreed, his voice wobbling with tears. “ He wanted to cancel the comeback, well now it's cancelled. I hope he's happy.”  
“I've got to go,” Chan said quietly. “PD-nim has to trust me to lead you guys.”  
Felix clung tighter.  
“I've got to go,” Chan repeated, convincing himself as much as them. He unwound his hand from Felix's and shifted Changbin onto him instead. With a gentle kiss to Jeongin's forehead and a promise to be back soon Chan got up to face the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jesus Christ this was a fun sick fic what HAPPENED. They don't disserve this, not even in my imagination.
> 
> In my defense I think I know how this fic is going to finish now. And uh, brace yourselves for the next chapter.
> 
> Again, I'm so sorry. I wanted this to be fluffy I really did but then a plot hit me in the face and those are rare so I had to take it.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To the one person who wants more suffering- are you ok?
> 
> To the rest of you- just one more chapter.

Chan rehearsed his speech to JYP on his walk to the building. _It would look bad on the company if Jeongin collapsed on stage, people would doubt Woojin's abilities, they'd think Felix was overworked._ Wouldn't it be better to wait and come back as the strong group they were. They'd win more awards, get more recognition for JYP Entertainment.  
Before he knew it he was standing outside JYP's office, knocking on the door.

 

Chan couldn't breathe. _No. This was not happening. No._  
“Sir, we can't do that,” Chan said, blood rushing in his ears, making it difficult to hear the reply.  
“Chan, this is part of the business. Every group faces similar situations at some point and they all continue, like professionals.” JYP's voice was hard, not budging on his decision.  
“Sir, I promised them,” Chan choked out. “Even if I agree, the rest of the team won't go through with it. They'll strike,” he bargained.  
“We have a contract, Bang Chan,” JYP reminded him, “and your comeback pays many more staff than you. If you refuse to work we will have to suspend all of your pay and we may need to charge you for the losses from pre-sales and advertisement. This is a business after all.” He smiled a sad smile Chan didn't believe for a second. “And of course, a statement will have to be released to your fans to let them know you boys were unwilling to perform after all their support.”

Chan couldn’t believe this meeting had gotten worse. He just wanted to be home with all his boys. “I'll let them know,” Chan said brokenly, standing to bow as he left.  
“Good. Remember, Music Bank tomorrow.” JYP said, as if Chan could forget.

Chan walked home on autopilot, numb. When he walked in the door he saw Felix carrying two glasses of water back to the bedroom and promptly burst into tears.  
“Woojin-ah!” Felix called in panic, hastily putting the glasses on the floor and gathering Chan in his arms. “Chan, what's wrong,” Felix asked softly in English, stroking his hair as Chan silently sobbed into Felix's shoulder. “What did he say to you?”  
“Oh Channie,” Woojin said as he found them and guided Chan to sit on the couch. Jisung who had followed him ran back to fetch the others.  
“Channie, tell us why you're so upset,” Woojin said, rubbing his back in soothing circles. “Did he yell at you?”  
Chan shook his head and used the back of his hands to wipe away his tears as he took a few shuddering breaths.  
“We- we have mu-music bank tomorrow,” Chan managed.  
“But the comeback's cancelled,” Seungmin said, confused.  
Chan shook his head rapidly, tears starting afresh. “He said we have to. Or we're sued for brea-breach of contract and they'll lie to STAY.”  
Changbin threw one of the glasses Felix had left and it shattered against the front door. “MotherFUCKER.”  
“But Innie can't perform,” Hyunjin said. “It'll hospitalise him.”  
“Innie and Woojin don't come if they can't perform,” Chan whispered the words that cut him the deepest. “I have to rearrange the parts for 7.”  
“No. NO!” Jisung yelled. “We are not doing that again. We're nine or none!” Minho grabbed him as he headed for the door and pulled him into his chest as Jisung's spitfire mouth raced through every swear he knew.

“It's just for a week or so though, right?” Jeongin asked. Hyunjin was holding him in his lap, having carried him from the bedroom. Chan nodded.  
“It doesn't matter,” Felix said, stumbling on the foreign words in his anger. “We're not going to promote new songs for the first time without you and Woojinnie-hyung. Nine or none.” He repeated. Chan was comforted that his members felt the same way about the situation but they still couldn't avoid it.

“I AM: ILL.” Seungmin said suddenly, sounding far more hopeful than the others. “Medical incapacity isn't a breach of contract. _I'm_ ill.”  
Chan had no idea what he was getting at but Hyunjin gasped. “Minnie, you're a genius!”  
The others were still confused.  
“Jisung, you're still coughing.” Seungmin pressed. Jisung nodded. “Can you really rap and dance at the same time like that?” He turned, not waiting for an answer. “Felix, you were still throwing up yesterday. You've not even tried to dance yet. What if you projectile vomit on stage?” Felix did not look like he liked the sound of that, paling at the thought.  
“Maybe the stage lights will even bring back my migraines.” Seungmin added, strangely giddy now, considering the topic.

“You're saying we're _all_ ill,” Minho said slyly, catching Seungmin's plan.  
“Doesn't have to be all of us,” Hyunjin pointed out. “If we lose more than two members the choreo falls apart. And if Seungmin doesn't go then you and Chan-hyung have to cover the entire singing line. It's just not possible.”  
“You guys want to boycott our own comeback?” Chan asked in disbelief. Grins were starting to spread around the room.  
Jisung gave a feeble and clearly fake cough. “I can’t perform, I’m sick.”  
“That’s never going to work,” Chan cried, exasperated. He was emotionally exhausted and he still had to rearrange their title track.

“It might,” Woojin said thoughtfully. “With Sungie and Lix at least. Even Minho struggled with the choreo the other day.”  
“When Minho was ill,” Minho corrected, narrowing his eyes at Woojin.  
“Yes, Darling,” Woojin rolled his eyes. “That was my point. Sungie and Lixie are still ill so we can claim it’s too much for them. I wouldn’t doubt your dancing skills for a moment.” And just to lighten the mood Woojin flipped his hands, imitating Minho’s Nat Geo interview. Minho pretended to throw Jisung at him, making the younger boy scream.

“As great as boycotting is,” Changbin said, having calmed down somewhat from his smashing rage earlier. “I think I have a better idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the worst of it over. No more scary number 7.
> 
> I've been kinda writing Chan with mild separation anxiety this whole time because boy does he have grounds for it after his training period. I figured he'd react really badly to leaving members behind even for a few days. And that's how this chapter happened. 
> 
> Personal story time, please skip if you want.  
> I imagined JYP being like my band leader. I play orchestral percussion and one time we were missing our drummer and our timp (4 massive tuned drums) player. We got half way through a piece and he stopped us saying it was off, there was no emotion and atmosphere. Yeah dude, it's because you don't have any drums. It's more than background noise. Each skd is adding something to their performance that you can't necessarily pinpoint but take them away and you notice. You just don't notice because they're doing such a good job all working together. JYP can fuck off with his 7 bullshit.
> 
> ANYWAY, any guesses as to what Changbin's plan is?


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have had such an eventful 48 hours, it's been mental. One of which was my laptop completely dying so I have typed and uploaded on my phone. At this point, if there are weird typos or autocorrects I don't care. I'll fix them when I have a bigger screen and an actual keyboard.
> 
> Also I realised as I was writing this chapter that I have been imagining weekly idol instead of Music Bank this whole time. So there are tiny issues with my timeline I don't like but overall you get the idea

Chan fell asleep in the makeup chair at Music Bank. He wasn't the only one and the staff kept exchanging worried glances behind their backs. It didn't help that Jeongin was lying face down along Seungmin's outstretched legs, a black beanie pulled down over his eyes. The beanie wasn't part of wardrobe but the stylist took one look at him and let him keep it. For rookies with supposedly endless energy they didn't look too great.

“Show time, Innie,” Chan called gently as the 10 minute warning was given. Jeongin mumbled something in return. Chan looked to Seungmin with a raised eyebrow.  
“He said he'd show them his breakfast,” Seungmin said, pulling Jeongin upright and into a hug.  
“Is it that bad?” Chan worried, trying to peer through the makeup to see if Jeongin was pale.  
“I'm fine, Channie-hyung,” Jeongin assured him, standing and brushing down his clothes. “The painkillers are working, I just don't feel like moving.”  
“ _Same_ ,” Jisung said, coming up behind them. “I want sleep.”  
“You didn't need to stay up, Sungie,” Chan said, feeling guilty.  
“I wanted to,” Jisung said, smoothing out Chan's frown with his fingers. “And now, I want to complain about it.”  
“Channel that emotion into your rap, Sung,” Woojin said, appearing with the rest of the members he had herded. “Right now we need smiles.”  
Jisung gave an exaggerated grimace, eyes wide and crazy. Jeongin copied him.  
Chan sighed. “Let's just get this over with so we can all go to bed.”

 

Minutes before they were due to start rehearsal Chan stopped a passing crew member and whispered hurried instructions to him, bowing deeply and pressing a USB drive into his hand.  
“Bang Chan, what are you doing?” Their manager asked wearily as the crew member ran off to the sound booth.  
“We can't perform the title track,” Chan told him, wary not to let the Music Bank staff hear. “Innie, Felix, Jisung and Woojin are still ill.”  
“Then why the hell are they here?” the manager hissed. “You said they were fine when I picked you up this morning.”  
“Four down we'd have to cancel the show. We figured a different comeback was better than no comeback at all,” Chan said.  
“Well there's nothing I can do about it now,” the manager grumbled as final calls were made. “When did you kids make a new song anyway?”  
“Last night,” Jisung grinned over Chan's shoulder. “I wrote the lyrics with Changbin-hyung when he was throwing up.”  
“Of course you did,” the manager said, torn between disapproval and pride. “Why didn't you do a B-side track?”  
“Have you heard our B-side, Hyung?” Minho scoffed. “The rappers don't breathe.”  
“This one's a lullaby!” Jeongin said excitedly. He then frowned and added, “with rap.”  
Their manager shook his head. “Whatever it is, I'm sure it's spectacular as always. Do your best boys, we've got to explain this to the boss later.” He gave them all a hug and shooed them onto the stage to a chorus of 'we love you, Hyung!’.

“PD-nim's going to kill us,” Seungmin whispered, almost sounding excited about it.  
“Sing as if it's your last then,” Woojin replied.  
They were called to starting positions and Chan pulled Jeongin close to lie on the floor. Jeongin was curled up at one side, Woojin lay the other side, his head by Chan's feet, one hand behind his head. His other hand was resting on Seungmin's shoulder who's head was pillowed on Woojin's stomach along with Hyunjin's. Changbin was curled by Woojin's feet, limbs less entangled then the others, ready to sit up for the intro. Next to him was Felix, hand kneading Chan scalp under his curls. Jisung and Minho were at Chan's feet, or rather, slightly under them. Minho was using Woojin's chest as a pillow and had propped Chan legs on his stomach. Jisung, like Changbin, was more free, ready to start.

The track started and Chan closed his eyes. He saw the programme he'd been staring at all night burnt into his retinas. The cursor moved along at a steady pace, instruments dropping off as it approached the green bars of Changbin’ and Jisung's recordings.  
“Changbin's verse was explosive, a running commentary of the sensations of illness. Jisung peppered in with all the worries they felt. About letting people down, being a burden, risking their career. It was a dizzying back and forth and Chan in the middle got a stereo effect as the boys knelt facing each other.

The rap continued to build, seeming like it would fall off the pace they'd set until a violin cut through with piercing calm.  
“Slow down,” Minho sung, quieter than the rappers but the clear notes took over the melody. He gracefully spun to standing, pulling Jisung with him.  
“Slow down,” Woojin echoed the lower harmony. Carefully everyone helped each other up to stand in a circle  
“We've got you,” Minho and Woojin sang together catching Jisung in a choreographed trust fall as Chan and Felix did the same with Changbin. Jisung had screamed at the adrenaline rush every time they rehearsed it the previous night but he was silent now.

The point dance that followed was mainly arm moment but Minho had layered their parts to make it look more complex than it was. Then it was back to lying down. This really was Chan's favourite choreo, he hoped it would come up in future Random Dance Plays.

Seungmin had the first chorus as he was the first of the singing line to get ill. Chan was the counter melody each time. That had been Felix's idea, claiming it was like Chan looking after them all. Changbin had agreed that it was a good idea and then spend the next hour yelling at inanimate objects because he couldn't find a melody to match the lyrics. To his ageyd frustration, Woojin had come back from learning a dance segment, stolen Changbin's notebook and recorded a beautiful counter-melody on the tinny laptop speakers in under ten minutes. Chan then had to physically intervene before Changbin started a fight he wouldn't win.

Hyunjin had wanted a dance break but rap intro aside it really was a lullaby. The heavy bass Hyunjin was used to just didn't fit. Jeongin suggested nap break but Hyunjin was determined to dance since he had to sing instead of his usual rap section. In the end he and Felix created an almost contemporary section where the members pulled each other up individually in a domino effect. As the section approached Chan wondered what they looked like to the crowd. They were dressed in leather and chains under the pulsing lights for a different song, spread out on the ground like children making snow angels.

As the last chord faded away Chan felt his heart begin to race. There was horrible silence before screams and cheers broke out from one of the other bands.  
“That was so unique!” one girl called out to them.  
“I love the hook!” another added.  
Chan found himself grinning at Jisung as they were ushered off stage. “Great work, Sungie,” he praised the younger boy. They came to a halt as their manager who was having a heated discussion with the show's producer.

“We're very sorry, ma'am,” Chan said, leading them all in a deep bow.  
“Well I can't say I wasn't impressed,” she said with weary reluctance. “Your Hyung tells me that was made last night. A pretty incredible performance even without that considered.”  
“Yes, ma'am,” Chan whispered, head bowed.  
“I also hear that you can't perform the song you're supposed to be showing tonight.”  
“No, ma'am,” Chan replied. “Some of our members are too ill.”  
“In that case..” the producer sighed and Chan knew she held their future careers in her hands. They should have brought Jeongin to the front to sway her with his angel eyes. “See if your company can organise a costume change. I'll speak to the lighting guy to get rid of the pulsing red and get the MC's cue cards corrected.”

Chan never wanted to hug anyone more. Thankfully, Felix had latched onto his back in his own excitement and countered Chan's instinctive bounce towards her.  
“What's this song called anyway,” she asked, making notes on her phone.  
“I AM:ILL,” Chan said proudly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well done to those who guessed correctly! This is the story arc that made me bring in big bad JYP. Was it worth it?
> 
> That was the best way I could think to describe the song without actually writing a song. I'm not completely happy with it but I don't think I ever will be.
> 
> This is the end of the main story, everything is all tied up. I hope you liked it. I have a few more scenes I think could be good epilogues but I'm going to take a few more days to work of my options there.
> 
> Thank you everyone for reading, it has been my pleasure.


	17. Chapter 17

JYP came to deliver their outfit changes personally so Chan was pretty sure he was going to die. He could hear people grovelling to him from down the corridor. Chan didn't feel like grovelling. He was on the floor of their dressing room in quite possibly the most comfortable cuddle pile Stray Kids had ever made and he planned on staying there until dinner.

JYP didn't knock, he strode in with such an air of superiority the staff were bowing before they even registered who he was. Stray Kids didn't bow. They were on the floor, most asleep, in a cuddle pile.  
“I need to speak to Bang Chan,” JYP announced to the room. _What, did he expect them all to clear out just for him?_  
Chan felt movement to his left as someone sat up.  
“Sorry you can't speak to Chan-hyung right now, he's asleep,” Jeongin told him lazily without any honorifics. “ You can leave a message with me though.”

The room went deathly quiet and Chan desperately wanted to open his eyes to see the look on JYP's face.  
“Wake him up,” JYP said. Chan was fairly convinced he'd forgotten Jeongin's name.  
“He needs sleep,” Jeongin said firmly. “And so do I. If you won't give me your message I'll be lying back down now.” Chan knew that tone well. When Jeongin didn't smile he could make his eyes burn holes through your skin and you questioned your life's mistakes.  
“This-” JYP started but was cut off by a yelled string of gibberish from Hyunjin as he shuffled closer to Woojin. Chan hoped nobody would notice him biting his lip to hold back his laugh.  
“Hyunjin sleep talks,” Jeongin informed JYP. “What were you going to say?”

“This song isn't approved,” JYP said and it almost sounded like a question.  
“So are we not performing?” Jeongin asked. “Because we can't perform the title song. Felix-Hyung will throw up on stage.”  
_Try not to sound so happy about it, Innie_ Chan thought. JYP was silent, probably trying to work out what move would get him the most views.  
“Perform your new song tonight,” he said eventually. “Then you have to promote your album.”  
“Ok,” Jeongin said the same way he said it right before he ignored Chan's instructions. “I'm Jeongin, by the way. Thanks for bringing our stage outfits.” And with that he lay back down. Chan squeezed his hand as tightly as he could, trying to convey all his emotions in one motion. Jeongin squeezed it back twice.

“Holy shit,” one of the make-up artists said, laughing nervously as the door slammed and then the room was filled with chatter.  
“Innie, what the fuck,” Chan whispered.  
“He made you cry,” Jeongin said, patting Chan's cheek.  
JYP had made Chan cry many times but he wasn't about to tell Jeongin that now. “Thank you, Jeongin,” Chan said instead.

Their outfit change was sweatpants and their new Stray Kids hoodies . Not the most imaginative but at least it was soft and comfortable.  
“Gotta get that promo,” Jisung said holding up his hoodie.  
“Do you think my bedhead counts as part of the concept?” Changbin asked.  
“No,” a stylist said and pulled him off to arrange his hair in an artfully messy way. Chan did get to keep his curls though.

The MC announced their stage as ‘a unique performance of their surprise single I AM: ILL.’ That was one way to put it.

They performed even better than rehearsal without the fear of being kicked off stage at any moment. The STAY in the crowd went wild, quickly picking up the chorus and screaming it back to them. Chan couldn't believe it was happening> 24 hours previously I AM: ILL didn't even have a track and now it was being sung by hundreds of people. 

JYP was waiting for them backstage as they tumbled through the door, clinging to each other in excitement. Chan lead them in a bow and Felix, Felix threw up all over JYP's pristine trainers.  
“Nice aim,” Jisung whispered.  
“Sorry, PD-nim,” Felix said. “I was nervous.”

JYP gaped at his shoes and then at Felix who had gone pale and was being held up by Seungmin. “Well done on your performance,” JYP managed before turning and walking off, leaving a trail of sick behind him. Felix slid down the wall and started staring off into the middle distance again. Minho ran off to get someone to clean up the floor and Chan went to kneel by Felix.  
“You ok, Lixie?” he asked gently.  
Felix nodded.  
“Were you just excited?” he guessed, holding Felix's hand.  
Felix nodded again.  
“Do you think you can move back to our dressing room?”  
Felix shook his head once.  
“That's ok,” Chan assured him. The other members sat down with them too and Minho came back with a mop and a water bottle.

“You guys alright?” A performer asked as he walked past.  
“We're ok,” Woojin assured him. “Felix just threw up so we're sitting with him until he's ready to move.”  
“You're actually ill? the boy asked in surprise. “I thought it was just a concept.”  
Jisung laughed. “Nope. At least 4 of us probably shouldn't be working right now. We didn't want to cancel and disappoint our fans.”  
The boy made an impressed face. “That's more dedication than I could ever have.” He waved and headed off down the corridor.  
“Good luck!” Hyunjin called after him.

They won. Their crazy, ill and sleep-deprived performance of a hashed together song actually won. Chan made Jisung collect their award, after all he had written most of it.  
“Thank you so much,” Jisung said. “The last week has been chaotic for us but we really wanted to perform, all nine of us, for STAY. Thank you, we're very glad you enjoyed our performance.”  
A man in the crowd screamed out his love for them and Jisung jumped. “Thank you?” Jisung said hesitantly and the crowd laughed. 

Felix insisted they drive via the company on their way home to grovel to the media team . The staff waved off their apologies and gave them a standing ovation. Stray Kids would be getting a very long detailed meeting about promotional behaviour and media training in the next few days though. Chan thought that was fair.

“Can we do a Vapp when we get home?” Seungmin asked innocently. The staff looked to each other and there was a long pause.  
“You chose to perform I AM: ILL as an alternative to cancelling your comeback,” one woman gave them the selected truth. “Do not mention JYP's involvement. You were all medically cleared to perform that song.”  
Ok that last one was a lie but Chan saw the reason behind it. After all, it was their own fault they never got cleared for a song nobody knew they would perform.  
“Understood, Noona,” Chan said, dimples showing. “Have a good night, everyone,” he called, herding the kids back to the car.

“Bed time?” Jeongin asked as silence settled over the car. He looked exhausted from such an eventful day.  
“For you, I think so,” Minho said, letting Jeongin rest his head on his shoulder. “Maybe Lix too.”

Once they were all inside Chan flopped down on the couch and started a livestream. Views started flooding in as members gathered around him, rearranging each other's limbs to best for everyone's face in the shot.

After their standard greetings and a big thanks for the support that day, Chan started reading comments as they flew up the screen.  
“Where's I.N?” Jisung read.  
“I.N is getting ready for bed,” Woojin answered.  
“Our baby,” Hyunjin cooed and other members joined in.  
“Are you guys actually ill? Crying face crying face?” Felix read. “Not really any more,” he answered, giving the camera a beaming smile. “I.N has a headache, Woojinnie-hyung and Han have coughs and I'm a tiny bit dizzy but we're getting better, I promise.” Changbin patted his leg in comfort.  
“By tomorrow we'll be healthy,” Woojin lied. 

“Who got sick first?” Seungmin read, looking to the other members to answer.  
“Well,” said Chan. “We have a story for you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's done. I do love a good circular ending.
> 
> If (if) I write more Stray Kids do you guys have any ideas? Ot9 feels is a given and it probably won't be this long.  
> I was thinking about a language based one? since stray kids are bilingual and Byelingual.
> 
> Edit 02/19: thank you everyone for making this such a popular fic. I am truly blown away. Please feel free to comment even if it's long after this was posted and all you have to say is a keyboard smash. It makes my day to see that notification.
> 
> I have 2 fics in the works now. It'll be going a lot slower but if you enjoyed this keep a look out for more


End file.
